Two teenage girls from central Bijapur district, a Maoist hotbed, will be representing India at Asian Junior Softball Championship in Philippines this May.

Sunita Hemla and Aruna Punem, both 15-years-old, were born into tribal families in Gangaloor village under the shadow of guns and did menial jobs like plucking tendu leaves to contribute to family earnings. A road which runs through Gangaloor has come to be known as 'Khooni Sadak' (bloody road), where naxals have reportedly killed over 40 soldiers so far.