The increase in reports of rape by militant groups in Kashmir has coincided with the rise in other violent crimes against civilians by these groups. Extremist militant groups seeking to enforce an "Islamic" code of behavior have launched other violent attacks on women.
While as early as 1990 there were reported threats to women, most frequently by groups reportedly seeking to enforce their interpretation of "Islamic" culture in Kashmir, reports of rape by militant groups were rare in the conflict's early years. A July 1990 report cited frequent threats to women by one group, "warning the women that severe action will be taken if they do not maintain purdah (or wear a burqa, clothing which entirely conceals the body)."131 Such threats have continued, and women who have challenged the militants have been attacked. On May 13, 1993, members of the women's militant organization, Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of the Nation) issued warnings to women in Srinagar not to come outside without wearing burqas. The militants reportedly sprayed paint on women who defied the order, such that four students were hospitalized with eye injuries from the paint.132
In some cases, women have been raped and then killed after being abducted by rival militant groups and held as hostages for their male relatives. In other cases, members of armed militant groups have abducted a woman after threatening to shoot the rest of the family unless she is handed over to a militant leader. The fact that local people sometimes refer to these abductions and rapes as "forced marriages" gives some indication of the social ostracism suffered by rape victims and the code of silence—combined with fear—that prevents people from openly condemning such abuses by militant groups.
Some incidents of rape by militants appear to have been motivated by the fact that the victims or their families are accused of being informers or of being opposed to the militants or supporters of rival militant groups. One of the earliest such cases involved a staff nurse at the Saura Medical Institute, Sarla Bhat, twenty-seven, who was kidnapped from the institute on April 14, 1990. Her body was found four days later. A note found near the body stated that the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) took responsibility for the killing and accused Bhat of informing the security forces about the presence of a number of wounded militants in the hospital.133 The post-mortem report concluded that she had been raped before she was shot dead.
The fear of rape has reportedly been a factor in the flight of Muslim families from Kashmir. However, cases of rape by militant groups are difficult to investigate because most Kashmiris are reluctant to discuss abuses by the militants out of fear of reprisal. According to one report, the increasing number of rapes has led to an increase in abortions in Kashmir, resulting in one case in the murder of a doctor who complained about having to perform them. Militants from the Hezb-ul Mujahidin and Al Jehad reportedly accused the doctor of being an informer.134
A 1992 case of rape and murder by militants attracted publicity in part because the incident provoked street protests condemning the militants for the crimes. The incident involved the family of a retired truck driver named Sohanlal, sixty, who lived in Nai Sadak, Kralkhud. At about 8:30 p.m. on March 30, 1992, armed militants entered Sohanlal's home. According to his son, the men demanded food and shelter. The family complied. After about two hours, Sohanlal and his wife, Bimla, heard their daughter, Archana, cryingfor help from a room on the ground floor of the house. When they reached the room, the militants shot Sohanlal, killing him instantly. The bodies of the two women were discovered in the street outside the house. According to the autopsy report, both women had been raped before being shot. According to one report, 5,000 women staged a protest march to condemn the rapes and murders.135 To our knowledge, no group has claimed responsibility for the incident.
International attention to the human rights situation in India has encouraged the government to take a number of positive steps recently toward improving human rights conditions, but much more needs to be done. On June 22, 1995, the Indian government took an important step in deciding to allow the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to conduct humanitarian visits to detention facilities in Kashmir. However, the fact that international human rights groups (Human Rights Watch, for example) have not been allowed to conduct investigations in Kashmir underscores the urgent need for continued international pressure. Abuses in Kashmir continue to mount, including deaths in custody, disappearances, torture and rape. In a welcome step, the government has publicized a number of prosecutions of security personnel for rape and other abuses. However, the number of security force members actually sentenced remains very small relative to the number of known abuses. Too often Indian officials, when confronted with the evidence of rape, attempt to impugn the integrity of the victims and witnesses, discredit the testimony of physicians, lawyers and human rights activists, or simply deny the charges without thorough investigation—everything except order an impartial inquiry and prosecute those responsible. We are also unaware of any successful efforts by militant groups to prevent their forces from committing rape. By failing to take action, rigorously and consistently, against those who commit rape, both government and militant forces have ensured only that the use of rape as a weapon of war in Kashmir will continue.
131 Committee for Initiative on Kashmir, Kashmir Imprisoned (Delhi: July 1990), pp. 46-47.
132 The incident was reported by the South Asia Human Rights Documentation Centre, a human rights organization based in New Delhi, in a private communication to Human Rights Watch dated April 7, 1993.
133 Yusuf Jameel, "Ex-Minister Shot Dead by J&K Militants," Telegraph (Calcutta), April 20, 1990.
134 Harinder Baweja, "People Turning Against Militants," India Today, May 31, 1992, p. 42.
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