Illustration by Khytul Abyad
The Conflict in Kashmir has been characterized by large scale use of sexual violence by multiple belligerents since its inception, Numerous scholars and human rights agencies assert that since the onset of the insurgency in Jammu Kashmir in 1988, rape has been leveraged as a ‘weapon of war’ by security forces, However, the government rejects such charges.
A report by Human Right watch says that Militants have also allegedly committed rapes, which remain under-researched, Mass rapes were carried out by Dogra troops as well as Hindu and Sikh mobs, and by Pakistani tribesmen infiltrators when the conflict broke out in 1947.
In 1989, attacks on Kashmiri Hindus escalated and Muslim insurgents allegedly selectively raped, tortured, and killed Kashmiri Pandits, allegedly burnt their temples, idols and holy books. The Pandits fled en masse from the state after which their houses were burnt by militants and their artwork and sculptures were destroyed. While cases of systematic rape of Kashmiri Muslim women by the Indian military are well documented, the details and scale of sexual violence against Kashmiri Pandit women remain largely to be researched.
According to Human Rights Watch, despite threats by Militant groups to women since 1990, reports of rape by militants were rare in the early years of the conflict, Cases of rape by militant groups are difficult to investigate because most Kashmiris are reluctant to discuss abuses by the militants out of fear of reprisal.
Militants have on several occasions accused women of being informers and raped them like in the case of 1992 mentioned below.
In some cases, women have been raped and then killed after being abducted by rival militant groups and held as hostages for their male relatives. In other cases, members of armed militant groups have abducted women after threatening to shoot the rest of the family unless she is handed over to a militant leader. Local people sometimes refer to these abductions and rapes as “forced marriages”.
The Kashmiriyat in an attempt to document the obliterated rape cases, listed some of the most spoken about rape cases of early 90s. The data has been collected from various sources including , First Information Reports and newspaper archives.
April 14, 1990: One of the earliest such cases involved a staff nurse at the Soura Medical Institute, Sarla Bhat, 27, who was kidnapped from the institute. Her body was found four days later. A note found near the body stated that the JKLF took responsibility for the killing and accused Bhat of informing the security forces about the presence of a number of wounded militants in the hospital. The post-mortem report concluded that she had been raped before she was shot dead.
18 May 1990: Bus number 1317 carrying 27 persons holding valid permission from BSF, of a marriage party, was allegedly stopped near Badasgam village, district Islamabad crossing about 23:30 hours by BSF patrolling party. The BSF personnel opened indiscriminate firing upon the bus. M. Abdullah 5/0 Gani Malik R/0 Lisser died on the spot. The bridegroom and eight other persons accompanying him received injuries. Bride and her chamber-maid were allegedly gang-raped by the BSF personnel. The bride was taken away by them leaving behind the chamber-maid and subsequently released after 48 hours. The bus was removed to district Police lines; it had seventy-eight bullet-hole marks. A case was duly registered in the concerned Police station and an inquiry was conducted by the then DIG Kashmir and a medical report also obtained duly proved the lady was raped.
On March 30 1992: A 1992 case of rape and murder by militants attracted publicity in part because the incident provoked street protests condemning the militants for the crimes. The incident involved the family of a retired truck driver named Sohanlal, 60, who lived in Nai Sadak, Kralkhud. At about 8:30 p.m. on March 30, 1992, armed men entered Sohanlal’s home. According to his son, the men demanded food and shelter. The family complied.
After about two hours, Sohanlal and his wife, Bimla, heard their daughter, Archana, crying for help from a room on the ground floor of the house. When they reached the room, the militants shot Sohanlal, killing him instantly. The bodies of the two women were discovered in the street outside the house. According to the autopsy report, both women had been raped before being shot.
On 14-6-90: 68th Mountain Brigade during combing operations at Threhgam, Ilaigam and Dalipora in Kupwara allegedly molested young women and a daughter of one person was subjected to rape. Her body was found full of bruises, flesh of left cheek had been carved-out and the woman folk was compelled to be naked.
On 17-6-90: young women were molested. The daughter of one of the inhabitants in order to save her chastity jumped from the 2nd story; both her legs were fractured and had to be given a plaster cast.
On 22-6-90, at Panzipora Baramulla, one young girl was forcibly stripped, assaulted and compelled to make a naked parade in the village. During this process, Government Force Personnel was scratching flesh from her naked body.
On 17-6-90, scores of women were molested by the Government Force Personal. Marks of tooth bites were visible on the cheeks of the women. Their clothes were torn and forced to be naked.
On 17-6-90, B.S.F. personnel barged into houses, compelled males to come out of their houses, and raped two women at their residence. Again on the same day, at Machter, Chokibal Kupwara, a couple was arrested and taken to Army camp. The husband was tied and the wife was subjected to rape by six Army personnel. Again on the same date, a woman was raped in presence of her husband. Again on the same date, one woman was compelled to take off her clothes in presence of her father. The father was beaten severely and his arm was fractured. The girl was then subjected to rape by a group of Army personnel and was left unconscious in a naked condition.
On 19-5-90 at Laderwan Kupwara, one young girl was allegedly hanged up side down for four hours on a tree. She was given electric shocks which left her unconscious.Once recovered, she was again beaten severely. The body of the girl was full of bruises and she had lost her mental balance. It is alleged that on the same day, one woman- mother of four was physically tortured and molested. She was hanged upside down on a tree and then locked in a room where she was given electric shocks and later she was left, believing to have died. On the same day, another woman was physically tortured. Cigarette burns were visible on her body and she too, was subjected to electric shocks.
On 12-7-90, B.S.F Personal cordoned off four villages Chogal, Kupwara for search operation. This also included the village Saghipora. All the inhabitants were ordered to come out of their houses except females between 16 to 22 years of age. They allegedly raped 12 girls in their houses.
On 30-1-94, at Pulwama, three women were molested by the armed forces during crackdown operations. At Pattan, Mst. (name withheld) W/O Gh. Ahmad Khanday was allegedly gang-raped by three jawans of Raj Rifles during search operations in her house on 13-1-94. In this connection, the people demonstrated and an FIR was lodged against the personnel in the concerned Police station Pattan.
On 28-5-94, at Koil Tral of Pulwama, a girl was allegedly molested by the forces during a crackdown operation. In this regard an FIR stands registered. At Keller Pulwama, another woman was molested by the forces during crackdown operations on 29-5-94, At Khushipora, Qazigund, Islamabad, 20 women- 18 Muslim
and two pandit girls were molested allegedly by the forces on 29-5-94 and forced to dance in a forest when they were collecting firewood.
On 10-6-94, locals of Saidpora, Shopian came on the streets to protest against the gang rape of two girls at the hands of forces on 17-6-94, , media reports. During late hours on 11/12-6-94, the Army allegedly entered Hyhama, Batapora Kupwara areas headed by Mj. Ramesh and Raj Kumar where they gang-raped and molested seven women.
On 3-2-94 during crackdown operations in the area, a woman (name withheld) claimed that Four women were taken to the Gaffar Shah’s house and four others to Hassan Sheikh’s house by the forces. The male members were taken out for an identification parade. She was raped by the forces according to a medical examination in the district hospital of Kupwara.