Srinagar, August 02: Testimony before the district and session judge of Gulshan alias Pepsi, a sexual abuse victim: “When I did not hear anything from state authorities about the release of my husband, I contacted Sabeena and sought her help. She told me there is one SSP (Senior Superintendent of Police) Ashkoor Wani who can help, and took me to a police control room (PCR). In the PCR, Sabeena told me that I should satisfy the SSP if I wanted my husband released. Given the circumstances, I agreed. He then bolted the room from inside and had sexual intercourse with me on the sofa of his office room.”
Testimony of Neelofar: “Six years back Niyaz Mehmood [the then SSP of J&K police’s security wing] promised me that my brother would be given a job. When I went to his office with my brother’s application, he wanted me to have sexual intercourse with him. Under the circumstances, I had to compromise, and he had sexual intercourse with me; 15 days later, he issued an appointment order for my brother.”
Testimony of Sabeena, the alleged kingpin of the sex scam: “Once he (Hakim Mohammad Yasin, a former minister and sitting MLA) wanted me to get him a beautiful girl. I took Nuzhat to Circuit House, near Radio Kashmir. He had sex with Nuzhat in one room while I was made to set in an adjacent room. He then paid me Rs5,000, of which I paid Nuzhat Rs4000 in the presence of the minister.”
Welcome to the Kashmir Valley, India’s tourism hotspot that is more famous for terrorism of the traditional kind but which has, of late, turned into a haven for “sex terrorism” — perpetrated by those whom ordinary people look upon as their protectors. From politician to police officer, and paramilitary officer to rich businessman, doctor, lawyer and bureaucrat, people holding high offices are mired in the Valley’s biggest sex scandal.
Poverty, unemployment and militancy have been exploited by ministers and police officers to force young girls into the flesh trade in J&K. “Rape is being used as a weapon of war by politicians, police officers and other so-called respected people who have the patronage of the Indian state,” said Yasmeena Raja, chairperson, Muslim Khawateen Markaz, a constituent of the Hurriyat Conference.
Though the CBI has named 17 men in its charge-sheet, no one has been convicted. The J&K High Court delivered a spilt judgment in October 2007. Justice (retd) Bashir A Kirmani passed several strictures against the CBI and called for further investigation against several other men, who were not named in the chargesheet.
“There is another category of persons who have been allegedly named by Sabeena, persons who have had illicit sex with girls, but the concerned girls have denied the alleged occurrences…. However, since cases of this category of persons are required to be investigated further, I would abstain from naming them,” said Justice (retd) Kirmani in his 2007 judgment.
Mystery apart, the politicisation of the scandal has hurt the people in the Valley, victims and women activists in particular. “Politicians are trying to derive mileage from the pain of the victims. I know that a minor girl was raped by security forces and one of the mainstream leaders went there and promised to pay her Rs2 lakh and get a job for her family member. They wanted to hush up the case through inducements,” said Raja.
–Agencies