Suhai Dar
Early on Saturday, the visuals of a house set ablaze hit the internet, where fire tenders and Policemen were seen rushing to the spot in the Moominabad area on the outskirts of Anantnag township in South Kashmir. The house of one local resident, Gul Mohammad Misgar was set on fire.
The incident happened hours after a woman (name withheld), who was a resident of Kulgam was found hanging inside the house of Gul Mohammad Misgar. The woman found hanging was the wife of Atif Gul Misgar, son of Gul Mohammad Misgar.
Family of Atif Gul has accused the brother of the deceased woman of setting their house on fire. After the incident, both the brother of the deceased woman and Atif have been arrested by Jammu Kashmir Police. Atif Gul, owns a shop in main town of Anantnag called Dangerpora, in South Kashmir.
The Kashmiriyat spoke to Atif Gul’s mother, Misra Bano, and she said, “My son divorced her, he divorced the girl a year ago and there was an ongoing case at civil court in Kulgam. She barged into our house weeks ago and had been staying with us since. We could not force her to leave”.
She further added, “We never troubled her, when she came and lived with us after the divorce was filed, we would provide her with everything. She would not come and sit with us to avoid any dispute or discourse. We would send her all meals in her room. My son did not want to take her back, but we did not trouble her. We called the family of the girl several times and had asked them to take their daughter back until the case is still being fought in the court, but they took no responsibility of it. They told us, that they have done all they could.”
According to Misra Bano, after their daughter-in-law was found hanging from the ceiling fan, her brother came with a huge can of petrol and lit the house ablaze. He barged in with an axe and three people were reportedly injured in the attack. Atif Gul, Misra Bano and Mohammad Rafiq Mir (son-in-law of Misra Bano) sustained injuries. Atif Gul was married to another woman before and has a 11-year-old daughter from the marriage, who also sustained minor injuries.
Misra said, “He got a can of petrol, and he lit my house on fire. We lost everything. We lost our house and all our things. My son went to inform the Police Station and file a case. Police did lodge an FIR against her brother, but my son is behind bars too”.
Jammu Kashmir Police arrested the brother of the deceased woman, who was accused of setting the house on fire, and has also arrested Atif Gul in a case of domestic violence.
The Kashmiriyat also spoke to the Police official involved in the investigation of this case and he said, “The case was being investigated and then, the family took law and order in their own hands, there will always be repercussions to that. After the fire, a new investigation is underway along with the old case”.
The family of the deceased woman also spoke to The Kahmiriyat and they said, “We are unable to show the documents but, Kulgam court directed our daughter to return to her in laws. Atif called us on Saturday and asked us to come and take back the body of our daughter. We lost our girl. We need justice”.
Apart from the Police investigating the case, residents, and locals of Kulgam were enraged and have demanded detailed investigation and justice to be delivered to the family.
While Atif’s family plead that their son has already been termed an assaulter and an animal by the people based on suspicion, and people should wait before any official statements are made.