Kupwara: The people of twin villages of north Kashmir’s frontier Kupwara district – Kunan and Poshpora – recall the gory day of 23 February 1991 when about 100 women were raped by Indian Army.
The Government of India′s investigations into the incident rejected the allegations as “baseless” while the international human rights organisations have expressed doubts over the integrity of the investigations and the manner in which they were conducted.
INS talked to the victims of rape as well as elderly men of the Kunan-Poshpora who wished not to be named.
The men in their 50s and 60s recalled, “A unit of Indian army laid a cordon and search operation late afternoon suspecting the presence of militants in the twin villages. The male persons of the village were asked to come out of their houses. Following the orders, we came out and assembled at one place. No one was allowed to even move. Women along with their kids were in vegetable gardens.
All of a sudden, the army unit barged into the residential houses and started intense frisking but found nothing. Then they started thrashing women and raped dozens of them including teenaged girls, some were severely tortured after being raped. Even the 8-9 month pregnant ladies were not spared.
Some men who tried to save them were brutally tortured by forces, and this rape and torture continued till late night.”
One of the victims told INS, “I was in vegetable garden along with my 8-year-old daughter. Suddenly, about 10-12 army men caught hold of me, stripped me naked and raped me in front of my little daughter and other men of the village. The scene of being naked in front of my little daughter still haunts me; she also cried for the help when she saw me screaming in pain and asking for help.”
“Scores of other women were raped in the same way. Some were pregnant, some married, some newly-wed and many teenaged. Most of the victims couldn’t give birth to child; many who had tied the knot had to break it. Dozens started to bleed severely after being raped in an inhuman way. We were left at God’s mercy that fateful day and night.”
Another woman, now an elderly, said after the tragedy, she had to remove the womb from her body. “Being raped in a brutal way made doctors suggest me to remove my womb. Since then, I couldn’t give birth to a single child.”
“About four women who couldn’t withstand the continuous bleeding and the injuries died. Those who survived still undergo treatment and have to pay a hefty sum which they hardly manage. One among the deceased victim was survived by 5 daughters.”
The men added, “The torture and rape continued till night and the next morning, on 24 February 1991, when people from nearby villages came to know about the incident, they came along with vehicles to pick us and our women who were lying naked and unconscious under the open sky on snow in the bone chilling cold. Every victim was taken to nearby hospital in Kralpora for medical treatment.”
“The blood stained clothes of the men who were tortured and the women who were raped were brought to a nearby police station. The medical reports of raped women brought shame to the entire village. When we saw what had happened to our women, we wished for death than this life as we were devastated. A tragedy befell the entire village.”
“We had not given shelter to any militant. How come Indian Army justified such a cruel act?” the people questioned.
The victims of mass rape said they no more want to talk about or narrate the tragedy as “from time to time, various NGOs and other organisations visited us but did nothing in our favour”.
“We are yet to recover from the trauma and are unable to live a normal life for the 27 long melancholic and miserable years. We want the culprits to be punished in front of our eyes. That is our ultimate demand,” the Kunan-Poshpora mass rape victims told INS.
