Rehan Qayoom Mir
Srinagar, May 5: The family members of Rubeena (name changed) hardly know that she was serving a last tea to her kid’s minutes before she was sexually assaulted and killed by four rapists in Nishat area of Srinagar outskirts.
It was the first time it took Rubeena too long to return from the green bushes wherein she had gone to graze the cattle. This time she didn’t return as she used to.
For a long time when 40-year-old nomadic woman Rubeena didn’t appear back to the temporary tent, her daughter rushed towards the woods where she saw her mother battling life with blood oozing from her body.
With blood stripped clothes, the nomadic woman who fought against the four rapists was found unconscious. However, seeing her daughter, the goons escaped the spot.
For a while, the daughter of the victim who had reached the spot was puzzled and wailed aloud to call the family to the incident spot in woods. “My sister called us after seeing our mother unconscious and in a pool of blood,” the victim’s family narrates the ordeal.
Immediately, the nomadic lady was rushed to the nearby health facility for treatment, where she was declared brought dead.
Holding deep sighs and sobs, the daughter of the victim pleaded justice and demanded the culprits should meet the same fate. “We will only find peace when the rapists will be brought to justice. Our mother has left behind little kids. How can we live without our mother,” said her daughter.
“Weren’t they born from a mother. How can they assault and kill a mother of five. The culprits were inhumans,” she wailed. “We found an accused with blood on his pants due to which he was caught. Otherwise we would have no idea about the culprits.”
“The culprits should be hanged till death,” she, along with her family and relatives, demanded.
Narrating the moments before the incident the daughter of the victim said that her mother was serving tea to them. “Hardly we knew that our mother was serving the last tea to us.”
In the meantime, the body was shifted to Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar for legal medico formalities and was handed over to the family for last rites this morning.
The family reached Dard Wooder, Mammer area of Kangan to bid a tearful farewell to the victim.
The brutal killing of a nomadic woman after being sexually assaulted by four persons in Nishat area of Srinagar on Sunday, has left a scar for Reasi family, who questioned the ‘safe haven’ for a woman folk in the Valley. The family has been visiting Kashmir every year for the last more than a decade to graze their cattle.
Every eye was numb at Kangan area when a nomadic family, hailing from Reasi, presently living in Nishat, laid to rest their beloved member.
Amid tears and sobs, the family members said that the brutal killing has pointed toward the unsafe haven for a woman in Kashmir. “The slogans of Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao are falling flat when such an inhuman act is taking place” Uncle of the victim, said.
“We have nothing left. Our women, daughters are not safe. Which society we are living in. It was the land of saints, but now such an incident was gruesome. These incidents were being reported in other states, but now, the brutality has reached Kashmir as well,” he said.
“We demand the police to make progress in this case swiftly like it has managed to arrest the culprits quickly. No Lawyer should plead their case,” he requested, adding that the punishment to the culprits should be served within a week’s time.
Maternal uncle of the victim thanked the Police for its swift action. “We request the authorities to hang the culprits to death. If justice is not served immediately, such incidents can happen to anyone in future,” he said. “The punishment should serve as an example for all.”
Meanwhile, the locals demanded an immediate liquor ban in the Valley, saying that such incidents can be prevented by imposing a blanket ban on sale and purchase of alcohol.
In the meantime, Srinagar Police in a statement said that it received information regarding an attempted sexual assault on a woman (name withheld) by a group of individuals near Water Works Road, Nishat. The victim had sustained grievous injuries and was shifted to the hospital, where she was declared brought dead.
“Following the incident, FIR No. 35/2025 under relevant sections of law was registered at Police Station Nishat, and investigation was immediately initiated,” police said.
It also said that during the course of investigation, four accused persons were identified and arrested including Suhail Bashir Bhat, S/O Bashir Ahmad, R/O Asham Sumbal, Adil Ali Bhat, S/O Ali Mohammad, R/O Zeethyar Nishat, Firdous Ahmad Rather, S/O Ghulam Ahmad, R/O Zeethyar Nishat and Suhail Afzal Bhat, S/O Mohammad Afzal, R/O Pahloo Brein.(KNO)
