SRINAGAR – The rape and brutal killing of an 8-year-old Muslim girl in Indian-occupied Kashmir has sparked tension among the Hindu and Muslim community in the valley, exposing the vulnerability of peace.
The victim, Asifa Bano went to graze her horses in a meadow on January 10. After some time, the horses returned but Asifa was nowhere to be seen, stirring concerns among her family members.
Two days later, the family filed a police complaint but according to victim’s father, Mr Pujwala, the police did not cooperate. He further claimed that one of the police officers said Asifa must have ‘eloped’ with a boy.
Just as a week passed, Muhammad Yusuf Pujwala was informed by a neighbour that Bano’s body was lying in bushes in the nearby forest, confirming the concerns of the 52-year-old that something horrible must have happened to his daughter.
The police in the occupied valley have arrested eight men, including a retired government official, four police officers and a juvenile in connection with Asifa’s death.
As per police investigations, Sanji Ram, a 60-year-old retired government officer, allegedly planned the crime after enlisting help of police officers identified as Surender Verma, Anand Dutta, Tilak Raj and Mr Khajuria.
Mr Ram’s son, Vishal, his nephew, a juvenile, and his friend, Parvesh Kumar, are also accused of the rape and murder.
According to police, two men and at least one other raped Bano repeatedly in a temple after giving him sleeping pills and during the investigations, the accused revealed that their motive had been to drive Asifa’s nomadic Gujjar community out of the area.
The Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, had ordered an investigation by the crime branch but the ethnic backdrop in the tragic incident is of importance because all the accused are Hindus while Asifa’s people, the Bakarwals, are Muslim. Moreover, some of the police officers who investigated the case are also Muslim, prompting concerns of injustice in the Hindu community.
The case is over two months old, however, it has become a bone of contention between the community members living in a restive region.
What exacerbates the situation for Pujwala is the fact that Bano was not their real daughter and he had adopted her from his brother-in-law after two of his daughters were killed in an accident some years ago.
Meanwhile, on Monday as investigations are underway, lawyers tried to block the presentation of a charge sheet in a court in Kashmir court of a Chief Judicial Magistrate at Kathua, following which an FIR was registered against them.
Former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah criticized the lawyers’s unsuccessful bid and welcomed the registration of the FIR.
https://twitter.com/OmarAbdullah/status/983637366266126336?tfw_site=timesofindia&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftimesofindia.indiatimes.com%2Findia%2Fasifa-rape-murder-case-fir-registered-against-lawyers-omar-abdullah-welcomes%2Farticleshow%2F63696058.cms
Celebrities React to Brutal Murder
Top Indian celebrities decried the tragic killing of Bano on Twitter, calling for thorough investigations and stern action against the accused.
https://twitter.com/FarOutAkhtar/status/984242307376574464
https://twitter.com/Riteishd/status/984296112642142208
This is evil. Diabolical.
Imagine this innocent 8-year old child.
Shrieking.
Crying as rapists mount her, one after the other.
Over days.
Starved.
Drugged.
Can you feel her terror?
Hear her dying sobs?Now imagine she’s your daughter.
Will you speak up for her?#JusticeForAsifa pic.twitter.com/cvamtaVMVk— Rakesh Sharma (@rakeshfilm) April 12, 2018
https://twitter.com/sagarikaghose/status/984100718910033920
https://twitter.com/SupriyaShrinate/status/984008986612699136
https://twitter.com/sardesairajdeep/status/984128259561582612
https://twitter.com/sanjivbhatt/status/984293999291879426
