During an October 1992 mission to Kashmir, Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights documented fifteen individual cases of reported rape by forces of the Indian army and BSF.123 Thirteen occurredduring two incidents which took place in the two weeks prior to the mission; the other two occurred in July 1992.
On the night of October 10, 1992, an army unit of the 22nd Grenadiers124 entered the village of Chak Saidapora, about four kilometers south of the town of Shopian, district Pulwama, on a search operation for suspected militants. During the operation, at least six and probably nine women, including an eleven-year-old girl and a sixty-year-old woman, were gang-raped by several of the army soldiers.
A gynecologist and assistant surgeon at the Shopian District Hospital examined seven of the women on October 11 and the remaining two on October 12. The doctor stated that seven of the women were brought to the hospital at 1:30 p.m. by the Station House Officer (SHO) of the local Jammu and Kashmir police station in Shopian.125 She stated:
All of the women were weeping. They told me that "something bad" had happened at about midnight, that twenty-five army men had come into the village and into their homes. They told me that the soldiers had accused them of feeding and sheltering the militants, and asked them how many militants stay there.
The doctor conducted sperm tests and examined the seven women separately that day. Because the SHO had mentioned nine cases, the next day, October 12, the doctor went to the village where the rapes reportedly occurred to locate the other two, N., twenty, and her sister A., eighteen. She examined both of the young women, but did not conduct a slide test for sperm at that time. On October 14, the assistant subinspector of the Jammu and Kashmir police station in Shopian, Ghulam Nabi, brought A. and N. to the hospital for complete examinations. The doctor described the following findings for all nine women:
Z., eleven, had abrasions and bruises on her chest and face. Her vaginal area was tender, and she had a ruptured hymen with a one half centimeter vaginal tear. Blood from the tearhad coagulated. The sperm test was positive. X., sixty, had no marks of injury elsewhere on her body but was very tender around the vagina. The sperm test was positive. H., thirty, had abrasions and bruises on her face and in the genital area. The sperm test was positive. N., twenty, was also tender around the vagina and had a torn hymen. P. had marks on her chest and abdomen. The sperm test was positive. A., eighteen, was very tender around the vagina. Her hymen had been torn. The sperm tests for G., S., and A.B. were negative, the doctor noted, but they exhibited similar tenderness and some marks of injury.
The doctor gave a copy of the medical report to the local police station house officer. On October 12, an army official came to the hospital to ask about the incident, and she told him the findings of the examinations. The nine women narrated the following accounts:
S., about twenty-five, testified that on the night of October 10 she was in the house owned by her father-in-law, who is about seventy, and his wife. Both of her in-laws were in the house at the time. S.'s father-in-law stated that during the night, there was knocking at the door and three soldiers entered and asked, "Where are the womenfolk?" [S. continued] I told them they are sleeping. They went into that room to search it and as they started searching they told me to get out. I was taken away by other soldiers. One soldier kept guard on the door, and two of them raped me. They said, "We have orders from our officers to rape you." I said, "You can shoot me but don't rape me." They were there about half an hour. Two raped me, and two raped [her sister-in-law] H. Then they left.
Their father-in-law was released about half an hour later.
A. and N. stated that they lived nearby and were asleep around midnight when about eight or nine soldiers came to the house. Their brother went to the door and said, "The army has come to search our house." Four soldiers entered the house and ordered the father and brother to be taken out. The soldiers entered a room where the women were sleeping. A. and N. recalled:
They did not say anything when they came in, but they were talking among themselves, but we could not understand. They covered my eyes and mouth with cloths and told us to lie down.
N. and A. said they had been raped by each of the soldiers. The soldiers struck their ten-year-old sister-in-law with rifle butts and sent her out of the room.
P. stated that there was a knock at the door of her in-laws' house at about midnight.
When my father-in-law answered, he was sent away. Three soldiers came into the room, and told me to put my daughter aside. When I refused, he picked her up and put in her in a corner. I told him not to touch me, and he said, "We have orders, what can we do?" All three of them raped me.
Z. stated that four soldiers came to the house, but only two came inside while two remained outside. She said that when her father opened the door, the soldiers kicked him and sent him away. At that point in our interview, Z. broke down and was not able to continue.
G. stated that three soldiers entered her house and took her husband outside. Only one came into her room.
He told me, "I have to search you." I told him women are not searched, but he said, "I have orders," and he tore off my clothes and raped me.
A.B. stated that three soldiers came into her room and told her to take off her clothes. When she protested that she was an old woman, one of them kicked her in the chest and she fell. Then he put one hand over her mouth, pulled off her salwar (loose trousers), and raped her.
In response to requests for information, the authorities stated that the army unit, normally stationed in Chak Saidapora, "conducted search operations in the village on specific information that some militants were hiding there." They stated that the search was carried out "from 0010 hours to 0145 hours during which seven houses were searched in the presence of an elderly man." Senior government officials also admitted that the search was carried out inviolation of military regulations prohibiting soldiers from entering villages after dark.126
In a statement released to Human Rights Watch, Indian authorities claimed that:
the residents of the seven houses identified and confirmed that the same three army persons had entered and searched each house and hence it is difficult to believe that the same persons could have indulged in acts of rape in different houses within an hour and thirty-five minutes.
The government statement adds that, "Two of the women who have been alleged to have been raped were wives of terrorists viz. Takub Hussain a Platoon Commander of Hizbul Mujahideen and Mohd. Yakub a Group Commander of the same militant group."
To our knowledge, the women did not identify the soldiers as being the same three in each case.127 As we have noted above, one of the ways security forces in Kashmir use rape is as a weapon against women suspected of being sympathetic to or related to alleged militants. While it is not known whether such suspicions motivated the soldiers responsible for the rapes of these women, it is clear that the authorities intend to use the accusation that the women associated with "terrorists" both to discredit the women's testimony and—implicitly at least—to shirk responsibility for the abuse. Moreover, even if the women were affiliated with any militant group, that in no way justifies the use of rape by security personnel. In response, the government has claimed that "the statement that two of the alleged victims in the Shopian case were wives of terrorists is by no means an attempt to shirk responsibility. The Government's intention in bringing this fact to light was to caution Human Rights Watch about the possible motivations behind the allegations which would be to malign the security forces."128
The government also claimed that only four of the women were medically examined and questioned the credibility of their testimony on these grounds. Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights were provided with specific medical evidence and testimony on all nine cases. Hospital authorities stated, moreover, that the evidence was also provided to army officials and was, presumably, a significant factor in the government's decision to order a police investigation into the case.
The government statement attempted in particular to discredit the testimony of the eleven-year-old Z.: "During the enquiry she was not found to have any visible signs or marks of injury or any physical excesses nor did she display any fear or anger and appeared to be oblivious of the alleged incident." In fact, the doctor who examined Z. the day after the incident confirmed that her hymen was torn, that blood had coagulated around the tear, and that she was very tender around the vaginal area. When Z. described how she was raped, she broke down and was unable to continue speaking.
According to the English-language Kashmir Times of October 14, 1992, police in Shopian registered a criminal case of gang-rape against the BSF on October 13. The statement provided by the government stated that the case had been transferred to the Crime Branch—a special investigative branch of the police. However, after Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights published this case in "Rape in Kashmir: A Crime of War," the government of India provided a statement claiming:
The case was enquired into by a senior officer of the army as well as by an officer of the level of Senior Superintendent of Police M.M. Rafiqi who concluded that the complaints and the evidence were both unreliable and the allegations could not be sustained. Two independent enquiries thus came to the same conclusion, exposing the efforts of the militants to make false charges and terrorise or otherwise use innocent citizens to discredit the security forces.
This statement provides no explanation for the claim that the evidence—presumably including the medical report—was "unreliable." The way the government inquiry was conducted reveals one of the most serious problems with government investigations into human rights violations in India. An inquiry by the army or the police can in no way be considered "independent." The government should have ensured that the investigation was conducted by a judicial magistrate, as is provided under Indian law.
After the Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights report was published, a former government official who had interviewed army officials about this and other incidents told Human Rights Watch that the army had confirmed that the women were raped but had not wanted to publicize the fact for fear of hurting morale.
123 All names have been withheld by Human Rights Watch unless otherwise noted.
124 A military unit that traditionally was armed with grenades.
125 The local Jammu and Kashmir police are not generally involved in counter-insurgency operations in Kashmir; their functions are limited to collecting bodies of persons killed during such operations and informing the families.
126 Amnesty International, "India: New Allegations..."
127 Human Rights Watch and Physicians for Human Rights received no further details from the government about how the soldiers were identified by the residents, i.e. by unit, rank or other marking. If any individuals were identified, a semen and blood test could provide corroborating evidence.
128 Government of India press release, "Comments on Asia Watch-PHR Report 'Rape in Kashmir,'" May 14, 1993, published in Asia Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, The Human Rights Crisis in Kashmir, p. 210.
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