Latest news with #Bakarwals
The Print
07-05-2025
- The Print
‘Humans scarier than wild animals': Woman's death after alleged gang rape numbs Kashmir's Bakarwals
While he held his dying wife in his arms, community members caught hold of the accused. Restless, her husband decided to look for her. From a distance, he saw a man hit his wife on the head with a log of wood. Yelling, he rushed to the spot, along with others from the community, and found his 35-year-old wife soaked in blood, her clothes in shreds. 'She was barely breathing at that time,' the husband told ThePrint over the phone. New Delhi: On Sunday evening, as the sun was setting, a woman from the Bakarwal community stepped out to bring cattle back to her family's makeshift home on the outskirts of Srinagar. Around an hour later, the cattle returned on their own, with no sign of her. He was among a group of four men, who allegedly raped her. 'We immediately realised that she had been raped. The man that we caught was not wearing his pants, and his body was covered with blood,' the husband alleged. The woman was rushed to a local hospital where she died about 20 minutes later due to an injury to the head. 'Then the doctors sent us to SMHS (Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital, Srinagar) with the body. A medical test (to ascertain rape) was conducted Sunday evening,' the husband said. The autopsy was conducted the next morning, and the body was later returned to the family, he added. Meanwhile, the accused apprehended by local residents was handed over to Nishat police station. Later, the three other men were arrested. All four men in their 40s, according to the husband, are in police custody. They have been charged under Sections 70(1) (gang rape), 109 (abetment), and 61(2) (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). 'Both reports are pending for now, but a case has been filed against the accused. All four of them were Kashmiri locals and involved in drug consumption,' Parvez Ahmed, station house officer (SHO) of Nishat police station, told ThePrint. The tragedy has sent shockwaves across the community in the Kashmir valley where the Bakarwals migrate to during summers, roaming around the meadows and later returning to places like Reasi, Poonch, Samba, Udhampur, Kathua and Rajouri. The Bakarwals are traditionally into animal husbandry, especially of sheep, goats, and cattle, and follow a transhumant lifestyle, moving seasonally between highland and lowland pastures. 'We are the people of the jungle. We have never even been scared of wild animals and snakes, yet some humans harmed us more than animals ever would,' the husband said. Also Read: Varanasi 'gangrape': As PM calls for strict action, what family of 19-yr-old alleges in FIR 'A societal crisis' On Monday evening, the woman, a mother of five, was buried in a jungle in Ganderbal district's Hari Ganiwa, where the Bakarwal community buries their dead since they have no permanent graveyards of their own. The family had returned to the Kashmir valley from Reasi district on 29 April, as the mercury rose ahead of Bakra Eid. The husband, who has been living in Kashmir for at least 20 years, said his wife spent days inside the compound of her makeshift home with the children and other women, while he would go out to graze the cattle. He said that his entire focus had been to educate the children, all of whom are still studying—in schools and colleges. 'When she was there, I had nothing to worry about in life. She knew how to take care of our daughters. Now she is no longer there,' he said, adding that his only demand is justice for his wife and strict punishment for the accused. 'She was brutally beaten. She was humiliated. I want them [the accused] to know what humiliation feels like.' Raja Muzaffar Bhat, a social activist from Kashmir, highlighting the issues affecting tribal communities, told ThePrint that the incident has shocked the people of Kashmir. 'This is a clear indication that our society, especially the youth, are going astray and easy access to liquor and drugs is playing a great role in this,' he said. Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti condemned the incident, in a post on 'X' Monday. Calling the incident 'tragic', she said, 'Reports suggest she suffered brutal injuries and succumbed en route to the hospital. The police have arrested the accused, who were reportedly intoxicated during the crime.' The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chief also said that substance abuse is 'devastating' the youth and fueling horrific crimes like rape and murder. 'This tragedy reflects a broader societal crisis. My heartfelt condolences to the victim's family. I hope the perpetrators face the full force of the law.' (Edited by Sanya Mathur) Also Read: Does India have a rape culture? Pick a newspaper, maybe a mirror
Time of India
05-05-2025
- Time of India
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. #Pahalgam Terrorist Attack Pakistan's economy has much more to lose than India's due to the ongoing tensions, warns Moody's Ratings The day Pakistan got the power to poke India FM Sitharaman meets ADB chief and Italian FM, discusses economic issues; no mention of Pakistan 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.
Hindustan Times
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Pahalgam terror attack: List of massacres in Jammu and Kashmir since 1997
Unidentified gunmen opened fire on a group of tourists in Jammu and Kashmir's Pahalgam area of Anantnag district on Tuesday. Officials told news agency PTI that at least 20 were injured and some are feared dead, but the state government has not issued an official statement on casualties. Anti-terror operations were launched in response to the attack, and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha said that the perpetrators would pay a heavy price for the attack. Union home minister Amit Shah condemned the attack and reached Srinagar to hold a high-level security review meeting. Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed Shah to take all necessary measures. The attack brings back the focus on massacres that took place across the union territory since 1990. ALSO READ | PM Modi condemns Pahalgam terror attack: 'Evil agenda will never succeed' March 22, 1997: Eight civilians were killed at Sangrampora in Budgam district. January 26, 1998: 23 Pandits were massacred in Wandhama in Srinagar. April 17, 1998: Killing and beheading of 29 Hindus in the villages of Prankote and Dakikote in Udhampur district (now in Reasi district). The victims included 13 women and children. June 19, 1998: Chapnari massacre of 26 Hindus in Doda district by terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen. ALSO READ | 'Perpetrators are animals': Politicians condemn Pahalgam terror attack March 20, 2000: Chittisinghpura massacre of 35 Sikh villagers in Chittisinghpura in Kashmir on the eve of the then American president Bill Clinton's state visit to India. August 1-2, 2000: The massacre of 105 people, including 32 Amarnath pilgrims and labourers, in five different coordinated attacks by terrorists in Anantnag and Doda districts. February 9, 2001: Kot Charwal massacre was the killing of 15 Bakarwals (nomads) by terrorists in the village of Chalwalkote in Rajouri district. May 14, 2002: Kaluchak military station was attacked by three armed terrorists from Pakistan. They first attacked a Himachal Road Transport Corporation bus on the Jammu-Pathankot highway and killed seven passengers before storming the station, where they killed 23 persons, including 10 children, and five army soldiers. July 30, August 6, 2002: Eleven people were killed and 30 injured in two terror attacks by terrorists from Lashkar-e-Taiba on Nunwan base camp at Pahalgam during the Amarnath pilgrimage. March 23, 2003: Killing of 24 Kashmir Pandits at Nadimarg Village in Pulwama July 10, 2017: On the first Monday of the month of Shraavana, eight pilgrims en route to Amarnath in Kashmir were killed in a terror attack in Anantnag. January 1, 2023: Seven civilians of the Hindu community, two of them minors killed in a firing and an IED blast triggered by two armed terrorists at village Dhangri in Rajouri district. June 9, 2024: Armed terrorists attacked a pilgrims' bus in Reasi that left nine pilgrims dead and 42 others injured. The bus was returning from the Shiv Khori shrine to Katra. (Reported by Ravi Krishnan Khajuria)
