05-05-2025
4 held for tribal woman's abuse, death on Srinagar's outskirts
J&K Police has arrested four persons for sexual abuse and death of a tribal woman in Nishat area on the outskirts of Srinagar.
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The incident took place on Sunday afternoon when the victim, in her 40s with five children, was allegedly caught, gagged, tied, abused and dragged from the foothills of Zabarwan mountain range, when she was shepherding her livestock. She was spotted by her family members looking for her as she had failed to return to their temporary canopies in the same area.
"We went around looking for her and just 100 metres away in the bushy area, we saw a man running away and she was lying naked in a pool of blood. Her face was brutally injured," said a relative who was present at the spot. He said they managed to catch the accused who was drunk.
"His clothes were soaked in blood and there was a liquor bottle in his pants pocket. She was sexually abused and also hit on the face several times with a metal bangle. They also hit her with a wooden rod, which the police recovered," said another relative.
She was wrapped in a blanket and taken to hospital in a car, where she was declared dead. Postmortem and other medico legal formalities were conducted on Monday. The body was brought to Nishat briefly where the family members and relatives paid their last respects, before transporting it to Kangan in Ganderbal district of central Kashmir, around 40 km from here, where the last rites were performed.
The family of nomads - Bakarwals - have been coming to Kashmir from the Reasi area of Jammu for several decades along with their livestock. This is the first time such an incident has happened to them here. "We were living peacefully here, but this has shaken us to the core and raised questions about our safety. Our women go into the jungle and mountains everyday," said the victim's relative. Police have identified the accused as Adil Ali Bhat, Firdous Ahmad Rather and Suhail Afzal Bhat from the nearby Zeethyar and Brein areas of Nishat and Suhail Bashir Bhat from Sumbal area of Bandipora.
