SHAME! Bandipora girl ‘repeatedly raped’ by father commits suicide

Srinagar, Apr 13: In a shocking and equally shameful incident,a 23-year-old girl of Bandipora district was forced to commit suicide by consuming poison after being allegedly raped by her father for many years.

The girl (name withheld), as per the local Police Station House Officer, consumed a bottle of pesticide on Thursday. She was referred to Bandipora district hospital and eventually shifted to Srinagar where she breathed her last in a hospital on Friday.

The victim, as per the SHO, was allegedly raped by her father, and the crime was reported to the police by the victim’s younger sister, who also alleged of her father trying to do the same with her.

The body was sent for post-mortem even as the SHO said the apparent cause of death was poisoning.

A video gone viral on social media on Saturday, shows the younger sister of the deceased victim breaking down while trying to narrate the ordeal.

“One of my uncles used to sexually assault his daughter. Then my father followed suit, sexually abusing my elder sister for years now,” she can be seen saying in the video.

The younger sister claimed that the father tried to make sexual advances to her as well.

“He (father) often whispered nasty things to me which I tried to avoid. I got so angry once that I told him categorically that I will not remain silent if he continued to do so. I tried to inform my uncles and grandfather about my father’s activities but received a false assurance in return,” she says in the video.

“They casually said the matter will be sorted. One of my uncles even threatened my elder sister that she will also be held responsible and taken in police custody. Thereafter, she committed suicide,” the girl said, adding that, “I am not sure if it is actually a suicide or my father poisoned her”. 

“I was also threatened by my uncles and they were planning to get me married as soon as possible to hush up the matter but I vehemently opposed the proposal,” the girl added.

 “My grandfather also told me that I should maintain silence over the matter but only my uncle supported me and went to the police station with me for registering case against my father,” she said.

The elder uncle of the victim said his brother had committed a grave sin for which he should be hanged till death.

A local resident of the area said the victim had, a few days before consuming poison, tried to end her life by jumping off the roof of her house.

“Luckily, the children in the neighborhood saw her and came to her rescue immediately,” he said, wishing not be named.

“It was then that we came to know about the horrific incident and all the villagers assembled together to report the issue in the local police station,” the resident said, adding “this is a highly shameful act that has been reported in the society. We are not able to face other villagers. Our daughters are looking at us in suspicion which is so humiliating”.

Another resident said that there are girls in every house of this village. “If a girl is not safe inside her house than what is the guarantee that she will be safe outside?” he said.

He added that the culprit should be punished in a way that everyone will take a lesson from it and that justice should be done with both the girls.

SSP Bandipora, Rahul Malik, told The Kashmir Monitor that the case has been registered in Police Station Aragam (FIR No 04/2019 U/S 506,376,306) against the accused and investigation has been started in the matter.

Malik said that they have already arrested the accused father.

Asked if anyone else is involved in the case, he said that they are investigating the matter.

Chief Medical Officer, Bandipora, Dr Tajamul Hussain told The Kashmir monitor that board of doctors comprising of a gynecologist and senior surgeons did the autopsy of the victim and the report is with the forensic lab.

“Until report come, we cannot say anything,” he said.

Ulema amalgam shocked

Monitor News Bureau

Srinagar, Apr 13: Mutahida Majlise Ulema (MMU) expressed deep shock over the shameful and shocking incident at Bandipora district of north Kashmir stating that the incident reflects the moral degradation in sections of society which is highly unfortunate.

MMU said that it’s the responsibility of one and all to protect the moral and social fabric so that acts of such a grave concern aren’t repeated.

In a shocking and equally shameful incident,a 23-year-old girl of Bandipora district was forced to commit suicide by consuming poison on Thursday after being allegedly raped by her father for many years.

The spokesman said that several drives were initiated in the past by MMU and its patron Mirwaiz Umar Farooq by involving different shades of people to create awareness about character building in the light of Quran and Hadith.

“It’s time that Ulema and heads of localities to work in tandem and ensure such incidents are prevented laying stress on every segment of society to play its positive role,” the spokesman said.

The MMU spokesman said it was painful to see that in the land of Sufi and saints, social evils were growing and posing a serious concern for Kashmir.

MMU said that all segments of society should introspect about these issues and see how they can contribute to their personal and collective capacity to rid the society of these grave issues.