The security forces have committed rape as a form of retaliation against civilians, most of whom are believed to be sympathetic to the militants. Such reprisals have occurred frequently after militant attacks on security patrols. In one such case, on October 1, 1992, a BSF patrol returning from a crackdown in the village of Bakhikar, in Handwara district, came under attack by militant forces. One member of the BSF patrol was killed. Following the ambush, BSF forces rampaged through the nearby village of Battekut, killing ten people and burning houses and grain stores. After leaving Battekut, the BSF forces entered the village of Gurihakhar.
B., thirty-five, a resident of Gurihakhar, testified that on October 1 at about noon, she was in her home with her sister-in-law and mother-in-law, when security forces came to the house. One stayed outside while the other came inside the room where she was with her child. She stated:
He put his gun to the baby and told me to put him aside. I refused, and he beat me with the gun butt on my back and covered my mouth with his hand. Then he forced me to the floor and took off my clothes and raped me. Then we heard a gunshot outside, and he left.
R., twenty-five, stated that two security men came into her room where she was feeding her child. She told us:
One of them forced me to the floor and covered my mouth with a cloth, and blindfolded me with a scarf. He threatened me, "If you scream, we will shoot your children." Then he raped me.
On October 2, 1992, local police took the women to a female doctor in Handwara, who confirmed that the women had been "severely molested" but that, because they were not virgins, it was not possible to confirm whether rape had occurred with the tools at her disposal.
The mother of a thirteen-year-old girl in the same town provided an account of the rape as if she, and not her daughter, were raped, seemingly toprotect her daughter from public humiliation. As a rape victim, the daughter would likely be socially ostracized and unable to marry.
About this series of reported rapes, the government of India has stated: "There was an exchange of fire between security forces and militants in which one army personnel was killed, two injured and a number of civilians died in cross fire. There was no report of rape as alleged even when senior district officials visited the site after the incident."129 In fact, the civilians who were killed were deliberately shot by the soldiers in reprisal for a militant attack which had occurred outside the village.130
129 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. 206.
130 The incident is documented in Asia Watch and Physicians for Human Rights, The Human Rights Crisis in Kashmir, pp. 76-80.
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