Indian authorities deployed thousands of police in Kashmir yesterday to prevent more demonstrations over the alleged rape and murder by security forces of two young Muslim women, witnesses said.
Police said they were probing the deaths of the 17-year-old woman and her 22-year-old sister-in-law, whose bodies were found in a shallow stream on Saturday.
Their families said the corpses bore marks of violence and their clothes were torn. They have accused security forces of abducting, raping and killing the women.
PHOTO: AFP
But the state government said that according to initial investigations the deaths appeared to have been caused by drowning and no foul play was involved.
A judicial probe has been ordered by Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, but it has failed to cool tempers.
Police and paramilitary forces shut down parts of the summer capital Srinagar and the women’s hometown of Shopian, where the deaths were reported, after separatists called for more protests and extended a strike call by two days.
The strike closed down shops, schools, banks and offices for the second day running in Srinagar and other towns in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley.
Anti-India sentiment runs so deep in the valley, where there has been a two-decade insurgency against Indian rule, that even the suspicion of violence against locals, especially women, is enough to stir major demonstrations.
Since Saturday, more than 100 people have been wounded in clashes between police and angry protesters in Shopian and Srinagar.
Indian security forces have frequently been accused of committing human rights violations.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
RSS