New Delhi: For a tourist family of four from Pune, a vacation in the picturesque town of Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir back in April took a tragic turn. On the night of 11 April, the 70-year-old grandmother came screaming into the lobby of their hotel, sending her son and daughter-in-law into a panic.
She said that an unknown man had entered her room from the window, raped and injured her, before escaping by taking the same route.
More than two months later, after his arrest on 12 June, a local court in Anantnag last week rejected the bail application of accused Zubair Ahmad Bhat, questioning the “moral value of the Kashmiri society”, and remarking that mountains and meadows alone won’t rescue Kashmir as a tourist destination.
“This court, which every day witnesses the reflection of the probity level of this society, expresses its concern that it is hopelessly getting eroded on various fronts. The sooner the sheet-anchors, conscious keepers, watch dogs, and philanthropists of this society rise to the occasion to check what is going wrong on the moral front of the society, the better it will be for saving Kashmir as paradise on earth in its true sense,” Principal Sessions Judge Tahir Khurshid Raina said in his 27 June order.
“Mere meadows, mountains, lush green fields, forests, springs, rivers, rivulets and gardens will not come to the rescue of Kashmir as a desired tourist destination.”
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Broken window
The family had finished dinner and was getting ready to retire for the night, when the survivor came out of her room around 9.30 pm into the lobby of the small resort in Ganeshbal. The widowed woman was accompanied by her son, daughter-in-law and grandchild on the trip.
The incident was reported to the nearest police station in Pahalgam soon after. The police registered an FIR under Sections 64 (rape) and 331(4) (house-trespass) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita around 10 pm.
Ponywallahs and drivers working in the area were questioned, police officers said. “The complainant’s mother had said that the window’s lock was not working. It was not locked from inside, and hence it was not shut. She had also complained of being gagged before being raped. Considering the size of population here, ponywallahs and tourists were the only suspects,” an officer told ThePrint.
Based on the woman’s statement before the magistrate under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and technical evidence gathered from the resort premises, investigators zeroed in on four suspects. All of them were local residents, and were detained for questioning the following day.
But only Bhat was formally arrested. During the probe, it was allegedly found that Bhat, a ponywallah, had been with the family for three-four days before the incident on 11 April.
Sources aware of the matter said that the victim’s family left Pahalgam days after the incident, post the conclusion of all necessary procedures, such as recording of statement before a magistrate, and medical examination that substantiated sexual assault.
‘Reflection of highest degree of depravity, sick mentality’
Taking note of the sequence of events, the court said last week that the victim was alleged to have been sexually assaulted by an accused, even younger than her son who had complained to the police.
“Taking advantage of her being alone in her hotel room in Pahalgam, the accused as alleged, entered her room, gagged her mouth in the blanket, raped her, caused her injuries, and then fled through the window of the room,” Justice Raina noted in his order, remarking that the offence was committed in a dastardly manner.
He observed that scrutiny of the case diary, along with statements of witnesses, medical experts’ report, and the Forensic Science Laboratory report, negated the grounds for bail raised by the accused. “This is what she carried home from Pahalgam for the rest of her life, where she had come to enjoy the beauty of Kashmir,” he further said.
“The alleged incident is highly unfortunate, condemnable by all possible words, and ought to have jolted the conscience of this society, which claims its moorings to be based on rich ethical values and culture, but now stands shaken to the hilt. A revered guest, who was a senior lady was on her visit to this land of saints and seers, was treated so shabbily and shockingly that for all times to come, she will have remorse over the choice of place she made to spend a period of her old age with her children,” the court order read.
“It is not an isolated act to be ignored, but a reflection of the highest degree of depravity and sick mentality prevailing in the society, which must bow its head down in shame, and invites serious introspection as to what it stood for, and how that has now collapsed.”
However, advocate Suhail Beg, who represented the accused in court, told ThePrint that the allegations against Bhat are not “gospel truth”, and that a lot remains in the judicial process before his client can be deemed guilty of the offence.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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