Srinagar: The State Human Rights Commission on Wednesday ordered personal appearance of Deputy Commissioner and Senior Superintendent of Police Shopian for failure to file reply to a petition, seeking independent probe into the killing of a woman when her milk sucking baby was in her lap in the south Kashmir district on December 19 last year.
“Despite notices having been served through e-mail and fax, there is no response from Deputy Commissioner and SSP Shopian. In these circumstances both the officers are directed to appear in person before the commission on next date of hearing,” said SHRC chairman Justice (Retd) Bilal Nazki as per the complainant M.M.Shuja, the chairman of Centre for Peace and Protection of Human Rights. The case has been posted on April 27.
The SHRC had asked the deputy commissioner and the SSP to submit the report to the petition, seeking an independent probe “preferably through SHRC’s own investigation agency” to bring to justice those responsible for the killing of “unarmed woman”, Rubeena Jan (Beauty Jan) wife of Manzoor Ahmad Mir of Batmuran Shopian.
“A constitutional obligation is cast upon this Commission to constitute a thorough probe preferably through its own agency so that those responsible for the killing of the innocent civilian lady are brought to justice. The magistrate under whose orders the firing was ordered also need to be booked under law and ordered to be probed for the cold blooded murder of the deceased,” complainant had said.
“The family of the deceased is also required to be compensated adequately keeping in view the tender age of the left over baby who also deserves rehabilitation.”
Prima face, he had said, it was apparent that the woman was sitting in house with her milk sucking baby in her lap when she was hit by a bullet pumped by law enforcing agencies who were engaged in controlling a protesting mob in the area after a gunfight in the area. “There is neither any allegation nor any suggestion that the deceased lady was part of protesting mob but admittedly she was in her own house with her baby in the lap,” said the complainant.
The incident, he stated suggests that the forces were “indiscriminately pumping and spraying bullets unmindful of its consequences. The forces were expected to follow the standard operation procedures (SOPs) prescribed by law and the rules which they have not followed at all.”
“The official forces appear to have pumped bullets with an intention to kill the people including the deceased and not deter the people from protests.”
He said that an unarmed civilian woman sitting in her own home with her small baby in her lap when the official bullet hit her resulting in her death.
“The intentional killing of the lady deceased by official forces is a gross abuse of human rights taking away the love and affection of mother from the milk sucking baby and marital joy from her husband which would be a lifelong pain for the entire family especially for the baby and his father.”
