SRINAGAR: Police yesterday detained a leading woman separatist for participating in protests in Kashmir over the alleged rape and murder of two young Muslim women, officials said. Asiya Andrabi, who heads “Daughters of Faith”, was pulled in during a raid late Tuesday in the summer capital Srinagar, a police officer said.
The death of a 17-year-old girl and her 22-year-old sister-in-law has sparked widespread anti-India protests in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley, including Srinagar, since their bodies were found in a stream on May 30.
Indian officials say preliminary investigations suggest they had drowned, but the families of the victims have accused the security forces of abducting, raping and killing the women. On Sunday, police said forensic tests showed they had indeed been raped.
Authorities have also banned demonstrations in an attempt to curb the daily protests, which have so far claimed one life and left nearly 400 injured. But scores of girl students yesterday held noisy demonstrations in different parts of Srinagar, chanting “we want freedom” and “blood for blood.” The marches passed off peacefully, except at one place where police swung batons to disperse the women protesters.
Meanwhile, Home Minister P. Chidambaram will visit Kashmir today to review the security scenario in the state in the wake of the recent unrest in the valley. This will be the home minister’s first visit to the troubled state after the formation of the new central government. Chidambaram will meet, among others, Gov. N.N. Vohra and Omar Abdullah during his two-day tour, an official statement said in New Delhi. He will also interact with state ministers.
Chidambaram will attend a meeting of the leadership of the Unified Command — the highest security management body in the state headed by the chief minister. Officers of the Indian Army, intelligence agencies and paramilitary forces and top functionaries of the Kashmir government will brief the home minister about the internal security in the state.
— With input from agencies
