Shopian Rape and Murder Case

In a violence-hit region Kashmir, there is a plethora of violations of human rights, continuity of curfew, torture, harassment, intimidation, and using rape as a weapon of war by Indian occupational forces. The incidents of rape remain high. Women are often raped during the night raids by the Indian security forces.

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On 30 May 2009, a small town Shopian was devastated after the news of rape and murder of two young women Asiya and her sister in law Neelofer. They went to orchard for their work and when they didn’t come back their family went out to search them and later they filed a report to the authorities. The next morning their lifeless bodies were found deeply wounded and tattered clothes near rabbi ara stream. They were raped by occupational forces. This incident had activated extensive protests across the valley. While the valley remained closed for sixteen days, Shopian town observed a 47-days shutdown.

When the bodies were taken to the hospital for post mortem, two post-mortems were performed on them to determine the cause of death. It was put out by the police that the deaths were caused by drowning as far as accidental drowning of two women in a stream is concerned where no one in recent or living memory has ever drowned. The officers not only failed to conduct a proper investigation of this case, but they also tried their best to hush-up the initial investigation. Officials tried to suppress the entire incident with concealed intentions naming it as “death by drowning”

When this case referred to CBI, they also became involved in “fudging and fabricating evidences and preparing a false post mortem report”.

It is difficult for a woman and her family to secure justice after suffering sexual violence. 11 years have been passed since shopian rape and murder case and their families are still waiting for justice. The case now hidden with other 20000 cases and justice is nowhere to be found.

We also cannot forget the mass rape Kunanposhpora in 1991 which is one of the most notorious cases in Kashmir, not only in terms of the numbers of women gang-raped, but also in terms of humiliation for the entire village. On the night of February 22-23, 1991, over 30 women and children were gang-raped by Indian occupational forces. No marriage has taken place in Konanposhpara since then. Many victims have been deserted by their families. The experiences of Konanposhpora’s women have been repeated over and over. Women are molested routinely during searches by Indian occupational forces. Those who worked as teachers in schools at some distance away had to give up their jobs because of humiliation. 29 years after the incident the victims ‘still wait for justice’.

The 1993 Human Rights Watch Report Says, “Indian government authorities have rarely investigated charges of rape by occupational forces in Kashmir”.

#justice delayed is justice denied