BEIJING: Indian occupied Kashmir (IoK) is considered as one of the highest militarized regions in the world. Indian troops and police are consistently accused of grave human rights violations in the region, reports Chinese media while narrating a story of sexually assaulted girl in the hands military official in occupied Srinagar.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in the psyche of the majority of Kashmiris. Residents in the restive region took to roads to show resistance by hurling brickbats and stones on government forces who respond by firing tear, smoke shells and bullets which often proves fatal.
A guerrilla war is also going on between freedom-fighters and Indian troops stationed in the region since 1989.
As the ongoing unrest seems to deepen with the fifth killing, the schoolgirl who is apparently at the heart of current crisis in IoK has been in police custody.
While the family says she has been detained illegally officials said she was in preventive custody.
On Friday the girl’s mother approached a Srinagar based right’s group, the Coalition of Civil Societies, seeking their help in securing the release of her daughter and husband.
The trouble erupted on last Tuesday after an irate crowd in Handwara town of frontier Kupwara district about 71 km northwest of Srinagar city, the summer capital of IoK took to roads over an alleged sexual assault bid on a schoolgirl at the hands of Indian army trooper.
Police officials said the noisy protesters tried to attack army post in the town after which troopers fired on them, killing three people including a 55-year-old woman.
In the evening, a mobile phone video of the girl was leaked (apparently by police) denying involvement of any trooper and blaming local youth of inciting protests.
The next day the Indian army officially released the video to exonerate itself.
The video filmed inside a police station contains a statement of the girl (with her face blurred) and a male voice urging her to speak.
However, the protests failed to die down and since then two more young people were killed in the district taking toll to five.
On Saturday, mother of the girl told media in Srinagar that her daughter was coerced to give statement inside police station and she was not being allowed to meet her family.
She is a young girl aged just 16, she has been pressurized to make the statement, the girl’s mother told media.
She has been illegally kept under custody for the last five days and we are not allowed to meet her.
Narrating the sequence of events, her mother blamed army trooper for trying to sexually assault her daughter.
Meanwhile, the region’s high court asked police to cite the law under which they have detained the girl. (INP)
