http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/so...-tensions-between-hindus-and-muslims-in-india
An 8-year-old's rape and murder inflames tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India
To ensure she was dead, Asifa Bano's killers hit her twice on the head with a stone, according to a chargesheet filed by police in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and published by the Indian news website Firstpost. PHOTO: YOUTUBE SCREENGRAB
Published
6 hours ago
NEW DELHI (WASHINGTON POST) - She was an eight -year-old girl who, while grazing her horses in a meadow in northern India in January, followed a man into the forest.
Days later, Asifa Bano's small, lifeless body was recovered there.
Police say that Asifa was given sedatives and, for three days, raped several times by different men.
Asifa was eventually strangled on Jan 17, something police say would have happened sooner had one man not insisted on waiting, so that he could rape her a final time.
To ensure she was dead, Asifa's killers hit her twice on the head with a stone, according to a chargesheet filed by police in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and published by the Indian news website Firstpost.
In the months since, Asifa's death has brought anguish to Kathua, the small town where she was killed.
But it's also brought division. Asifa's case is the latest example of India's religious friction: As some denounce sexual violence and demand justice for Asifa's family, others demand justice for the men accused.
The eight men accused of raping and killing Asifa are Hindu. Asifa was a Muslim nomad, part of the Bakarwal tribe.
Asifa's father, Mr Mohammad Yusuf Pujwala, told The New York Times that he believes his daughter was killed by the Hindu men for the sole purpose of driving her people away.
To add to the volatility of Asifa's case, police say she was killed in a Hindu temple, and that the temple's custodian plotted her death as a way to torment the Bakarwals.
Asifa was the pawn. "A child of only 8 years of age who... became a soft target," police said.
On Monday (April 9), a chaotic scene unfolded outside a courthouse in Jammu and Kashmir, as a mob of Hindu attorneys tried to physically stop police from filing charges against the men accused.
The attorneys in a statement argued for a federal investigation, stating that the government had failed to "understand the sentiments of the people".
Police still managed to complete the paperwork and charged the men, who include four policemen and a retired government official.
Protests have now spread across much of Kathua. Hindu activists argue that some of the police officers who worked on the case are, like Asifa, Muslims - and cannot be trusted, according to The New York Times.
An 8-year-old's rape and murder inflames tensions between Hindus and Muslims in India
To ensure she was dead, Asifa Bano's killers hit her twice on the head with a stone, according to a chargesheet filed by police in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and published by the Indian news website Firstpost. PHOTO: YOUTUBE SCREENGRAB
Published
6 hours ago
NEW DELHI (WASHINGTON POST) - She was an eight -year-old girl who, while grazing her horses in a meadow in northern India in January, followed a man into the forest.
Days later, Asifa Bano's small, lifeless body was recovered there.
Police say that Asifa was given sedatives and, for three days, raped several times by different men.
Asifa was eventually strangled on Jan 17, something police say would have happened sooner had one man not insisted on waiting, so that he could rape her a final time.
To ensure she was dead, Asifa's killers hit her twice on the head with a stone, according to a chargesheet filed by police in the state of Jammu and Kashmir and published by the Indian news website Firstpost.
In the months since, Asifa's death has brought anguish to Kathua, the small town where she was killed.
But it's also brought division. Asifa's case is the latest example of India's religious friction: As some denounce sexual violence and demand justice for Asifa's family, others demand justice for the men accused.
The eight men accused of raping and killing Asifa are Hindu. Asifa was a Muslim nomad, part of the Bakarwal tribe.
Asifa's father, Mr Mohammad Yusuf Pujwala, told The New York Times that he believes his daughter was killed by the Hindu men for the sole purpose of driving her people away.
To add to the volatility of Asifa's case, police say she was killed in a Hindu temple, and that the temple's custodian plotted her death as a way to torment the Bakarwals.
Asifa was the pawn. "A child of only 8 years of age who... became a soft target," police said.
On Monday (April 9), a chaotic scene unfolded outside a courthouse in Jammu and Kashmir, as a mob of Hindu attorneys tried to physically stop police from filing charges against the men accused.
The attorneys in a statement argued for a federal investigation, stating that the government had failed to "understand the sentiments of the people".
Police still managed to complete the paperwork and charged the men, who include four policemen and a retired government official.
Protests have now spread across much of Kathua. Hindu activists argue that some of the police officers who worked on the case are, like Asifa, Muslims - and cannot be trusted, according to The New York Times.
