Srinagar: The State Human Rights Commission on Wednesday asked Inspector General of Police Kashmir to file a response on a petition seeking directions to accelerate the investigation and identify the culprits behind increasing braid chopping incidents in the Valley.
Hearing a petition filed by Peoples’ Forum through its General Secretary M. M. Shuja, a bench of SHRC also directed the IGP to provide updated list of victims within two weeks.
The petitioner has sought SHRC’s directions to the state to accelerate the investigation, identify the culprits, bring them to justice, issue advisory of preventive measures and also prevent recurrence of such incidents by activating the law and order and intelligence machinery across the state.
“Respondent state may further be directed to consolidate the list of victims, submit the same to this commission and the commission may kindly grant compensation to the victims,” the petitioner said.
The petitioner has stated that the unfortunate incidents of braid chopping started from various locations in Jammu division including Poonch, Rajouri and Chinab valley about a month before and travelled to Kashmir division and engulfed multiple areas in Kulgam, Anantnag, Shopian, Budgam, Ganderbal, Bandipora and Srinagar.
“That the incidents have developed a grave sense of insecurity among the women folk as the chopping of their hair renders them deshaped. The woman and even the girl children are feeling frustrated as their normal movement in and outside their house has come to standstill,” the petitioner said.
The woman and female children, the petitioner said, do not feel free to resume their normal activity at home, at job place, paddy fields and orchards which has rendered them as “prisoners within the four walls of their rooms.”