Woman dies of shock during police raid in Kashmir, alleges family

A 60-year-old woman died allegedly of shock in Batapora area on the outskirts of Srinagar during a police raid at her home, her family has claimed.

Khatija Begum was asleep in the same room as her visually impaired daughter, Rubina, at their residence in Meerak Shah colony when the raid took place around 2.30 am on Thursday.

“It was a huge contingent of policemen. They had probably searched some other houses in the vicinity as well. They barged inside our house looking for my brother who was sleeping in a separate room. They pushed me aside and dragged my brother out with them. My brother is innocent. He designs window panes and remains busy from dawn to dusk,” said Rubina.


She said her mother, who used to look after round the clock, collapsed when all this was happening.

“When my mother saw all this, she collapse. I am blind and was trying to make sense of the situationn. They pushed me aside again and told my aunt to take care of my mother,” said Rubina.

Her aunt, Rubina said, shouted back that the woman was no longer breathing and was dead.

The policemen sensed trouble and left the house without her brother, she said, but asked him to turn up at the Zakura police station in the morning.

The area though falls under the jurisdiction of the Nigeen police station and not the Zakura police station.

The family briefly tried to resuscitate her and then rushed her to the Institute of Medical Sciences in Soura where doctors declared her dead on arrival.

"She was like an extension of me. Who will take care of me now,” Rubina cried.

Family members, relatives and neighbors protested against the administration and police on the main road in the area demanding justice. Police from the Nigeen station informed the family that they had no information regarding the raid.

“We also met SP Hazratbal and SSP Srinagar who assured us an investigation and deputed an officer for it as well,” said Abdul Hamid Mir, brother in law of Khatija Begum.

Police were yet to come out with any official version regarding the incident. Inspector General of police in Kashmir Vijay Kumar and SSP of Srinagar Sandeep Choudhary did not respond to calls and texts.