Young girls stage protest in IOK to condemn Asifa rape, murder incident

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A large group of girls and civil society members organised a protest demonstration in Muzaffarabad on Thursday to condemn the rape and murder of a Muslim girl by Hindu men in Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK) earlier this year.

The girl, eight at the time of the assault, was grazing her family’s ponies on a cold January day in the forests of the Himalayan foothills when she was kidnapped. Her raped and mutilated body was found in the woods a week later.

“Punish the killer of Kathua’s Asifa Bano,” stated a placard being carried by the participants of the demonstration. “United Nations should immediately take stock of the Indian army’s atrocities on the children of Jammu and Kashmir,” it added. “Wake up UN, wake up,” read another placard.

Many girls were wearing black headbands inscribed with ‘Justice for Asifa,’ stood in a circle during their silent protest at a busy roundabout in Muzaffarabad.

“While this case has come to fore by a mere chance, I am afraid the way Hindu extremists are tyrannising the Muslim population in occupied Jammu region, there may have occurred many similar unreported incidents in that area,” a protestor said.

Scores of women, 100 according to some estimates, were raped in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora in Kupwara district in February 1991 by a group of Indian soldiers, while two young women- Neelofar Jan and her sister in law Aasiya Jan- were raped and murdered in Shopian district by the Indian army in May 2009.

However, none of them has been prosecuted for the heinous crime to this day.

Some placards at the demonstration also referred to Neelofar and Aasiya, seeking justice for them as well.

IMF CHIEF URGES INDIA TO TAKE PAY HEED:

IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Thursday called on India’s leader to focus more on women in the wake of the “revolting” rape and murder of two young girls.

While she praised the nation’s economic performance, “what has happened is just revolting,” Lagarde said when asked about the incidents in the past week involving a seven- and an eight-year-old girl.

“I would hope that the Indian authorities, starting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, pay more attention, because it is needed for the women of India,” a visibly angry Lagarde said.

“It’s not just a question of talking about them.”

Speaking as IMF opens its Spring meetings, she said she chided Modi earlier this year at a gathering in Davos because “he had not mentioned women enough.”

Lagarde, a long-time advocate for women’s rights, said the comments reflected her personal view, not that of the institution.

The gang rapes and murders of the two girls initiated nation-wide protests and demonstrations throughout India.

A 2014 UN report said one in three rape victims in India was a minor.

Nearly 11,000 cases of child rape were reported in India in 2015, according to the National Crime Records Bureau’s latest figures.