 |
Kashmir has been paralyzed by a strike called to protest the alleged abduction and rape of a woman by two soldiers in the disputed region.
Most shops, banks, schools and offices were closed Saturday in the main city Srinagar and other towns.
Protests erupted Friday as hundreds of people shouted anti-India slogans and called for the arrest of the Indian army personnel.
The victim says she was abducted Tuesday and held in a hut where she was raped repeatedly for two days.
But Indian police say the woman showed no signs of “violence or resistance.”
Indian army officials have suggested soldiers may not have been responsible, saying terrorists also wear combat uniforms sometimes.
Human rights groups have accused Indian security forces of extrajudicial killings and other rights abuses in Kashmir.
The Himalayan region is divided between India and Pakistan, but claimed in full by both. Muslim separatists have been fighting since 1989 for Kashmir's independence from Hindu-majority India or a merger with Muslim-majority Pakistan. Thousands have been killed in the insurgency. (VOA News)
0 comments:
Post a Comment