SRINAGAR — The families of Aasiya and Neelofar in Southern Kashmir’s Shopian district still awaits for justice even after twelve years of double rape and murder case. The horrific incident happened during the intervening night of 29-30 May 2009 when they were raped and murdered and their bodies were found in Rambiara Nallah.
Sources said that Aasiya and her sister-in-law had gone to their orchard for some work but they went missing while coming back to home, later their dead bodies were found in Rambiara Nallah.
The incident angered the locals which led mass protests across Kashmir valley in support of Aasiya and Neelofar, demanding justice to them. The government had imposed curfew which lasted for atleast one and half months.
Justice Muzzafar Jan was appointed by the then Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir to investigate the matter. The Jan Commission found in its report that the women were raped and murdered by “men in uniform”.
Later an investigation by Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that the duo died due to drowning in Rambi Canal. However, their family members continue to deny that the duo “could not have drowned in ankle-deep water”.
The then opposition leader Mehbooba Mufti rejected the government inquiry into the case, challenging the then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who dismissed the case as that of drowning. Later in 2016 when she (Mehbooba) attained power as Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, she also failed to provide justice to the families of Aasiya and Neelofar.
In 2018, an 8-year-old child Aasifa Bano from Nomad community in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district was raped and murdered by men in power.
Three decades ago, in February 1991, men in uniform were involved in mass-rape in twin villages Kunan and Pushpora in Northern Kashmir’s Kupwara district and government has failed on every front to provide justice to the victims. — (KIMS)