Anantnag: Amid growing voices of concern and demands for stringent action against perpetrators of “domestic violence” , police in Baramulla have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the killing of a young woman.
The 28-year-old victim Zahida Bano, from the Warpora of Kreeri area of Baramulla, was a mother of two and was allegedly beaten by her husband and in-laws on the Eid eve. She was rushed to the Sub-District Hospital in the Kreeri area and then to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of SKIMS in Soura.
“She breathed her last, after battling it out for around a week in the ICU,” a police official from Baramulla said, “Her injuries were critical,”
The victim’s family has alleged that she was being tortured for dowry, by her in-laws, consistently ever since she had gotten married. The family has demanded immediate and swift action against the perpetrators.
Protests were also registered in her native village, where people demanded immediate action against the accused.
Hours after her death, the Baramulla police have now formed an SIT to probe the killing and the role of the woman’s in-laws. The Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Baramulla will head the SIT, while SDPO Kreeri, SHO Kreeri, and an ASI will also be a part of the investigation.
The case, 42/2022 under sections 307, 323, and 498 of the IPC, will be investigated speedily, given its sensitivity, the police have maintained. Earlier, the SSP Baramulla Rayees Mohammad Bhat refuted “rumors” claiming the accused were yet to be arrested.
“Who said they are roaming free? A case has been registered and the family has been assured that strict action will be taken as per merit. The accused are already arrested,” Bhat said while asking people to avoid spreading rumors over social media.
This case is not the first one in Kashmir. In fact, quite a few cases of domestic violence against women have come to the fore in recent years, from different parts of the Kashmir valley.
A woman of exactly Zahida’s age was allegedly set ablaze and killed, by her in-laws, in March last year – here in Anantnag district of South Kashmir. In November 2019, a 30-year-old woman and a mother of two was also set ablaze and killed by her husband and the in-laws.
Unfortunately the debates, the discussions, and calls for justice spurt only from one incident to another with a deep slumber in between.

Suhail A Shah