March 02, 2024

Justice remains elusive for Kashmir's rape survivors

topic:	Women's rights
located:	India
editor:	Hanan Zaffar

Last month was the 33rd anniversary of the mass rape committed by Indian army personnel in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora in the disputed India-administered Kashmir.

On the night of February 23, 1991, around 300 soldiers from the 4 Rajputana Rifles regiment cordoned off the villages, purportedly for an anti-insurgency search operation, during a period when militancy was on the rise in the region. 

Upon entering the villages, the soldiers ordered the men to leave their homes and forcibly confined the women inside. 

Between 23 and 100 women were subjected to rape throughout the night by groups of four to five soldiers at gunpoint. The victims included young girls and even elderly women over 80 years old.

"Three army men caught hold of me, and 8–10 army men raped me in turns," a rape–survivor told the authors of the 2016 book entitled Do You Remember Kunan Poshpora? "They had huge battery torches with them, and they used them to see my naked body while making lewd remarks." 

Published by Delhi–based Zubaan Publishers, the book documents the case details records of police investigation and victims' medical records and discusses how sexual assault is a weapon of war and terror in Kashmir. 

Today, Kashmir remains one of the most heavily militarised areas on the planet, with Indian troopers holding a conflict-torn Valley with a popular support separatist movement.

The Indian security forces operate with impunity, particularly in conflict-ridden regions like Kashmir, owing to the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA). The law grants Indian Army personnel the authority to enter any premises in the Valley at any time without a search warrant and to use lethal force if they deem it necessary. 

A United Nations report in 1992 documented allegations that Indian security forces had gang–raped 882 women. Additionally, a 2005 study conducted by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) found that 11.6 per cent of interviewees reported being victims of sexual violence since 1989.

The Indian government, however, consistently evaded accountability for the abuses committed by the army in the region. Following the incident, there were widespread protests, accusations of biased investigations, and blatant attempts to cover up the truth. It took sustained protests for the case to be filed on March 8, 1991, two weeks after the incident occurred. 

Initially, a report by the local magistrate confirmed that the Army personnel had raped 23 women. However, in July 1991, Indian journalist B.G Verghese led a Press Council of India (PCI) team that absolved the army of any wrongdoing, dismissing the mass rapes as "probably a massive hoax."

In 2014, the divisional bench of the state high court delivered a significant blow to the Indian government by ordering the government to compensate the victims in what was the first time the Indian judiciary acknowledged that the heinous crime did take place, as previous reports dismissed the gang rape as propaganda. However, the women never received any compensation. 

In 2013, over 50 survivors petitioned the High Court to reopen the case for a fresh investigation. The army also moved the High Court to demand the closure of the case in 2015, citing a lack of evidence. The court controversially ordered a stay on further investigations. 

A year later, when the army attempted to withdraw the case entirely, a plea was made in the Supreme Court challenging the act as an attempt to bury the matter. The legal proceeding is on hold, with hearings pending in both the High Court and Supreme Court.

Human rights groups have strongly criticised the excessive delays by the Indian judiciary in handling the mass rape case, highlighting systemic issues within the country's judicial system about survivors of sexual violence. 

While demands intensify for expediting the case and delivering justice, many key witnesses have passed away while awaiting a verdict. The remaining elderly survivors now fear they may not live to witness justice being served.

Image by Vatsal Tyagi.

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