At least 10 women have been injured since the protests started after Hizbul Mujahedeen commander Burhan Wani’s killing on Friday.
In Kashmir it is not just men on the streets, women in large numbers have also taken to roads to protest the killing of Hizbul commander Burhan Wani in the Valley. At least one woman has died during the firing and many are recuperating in the hospitals across the Valley.
At least 10 women have been injured since the protests started after Hizbul Mujahedeen commander Burhan Wani’s killing on Friday. The women have received both bullet and pellet injuries, according to health officials.
Yasmeena Akhtar, a 24-year-old woman from south Kashmir’s Kulgam district was the first woman to die during the protests. Akhtar had received critical bullet injuries during the protests and succumbed in a Srinagar hospital.
“She was looking for her younger brother when a bullet hit her. She was the first to die in our area,” her neighbour told The Indian Express over phone.
In Anantnag’s district hospital where 123 injured patients have been received since the protests began, officials said many of them were woman who had been beaten by forces or had received firearm injuries. Masooda Tabasum and her husband were amongst those who got injured during the protests and are currently recuperating at the hospital.
“Protests were going on from Dabruna (neighbourhood) and when we reached Ashajipora, my father received pellet injuries and my mother got hit by a bullet,” Masooda’s daughter, an engineering student said.
Sara Begum, a 70-year-old woman in the district was also injured during the protests after being allegedly beaten by CRPF men.
Medical Superintendent of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital Srinagar Dr Nazir Chowdary said five injured woman were seen at the hospital since Friday. “The hospital has received about 202 injured patients, both male and female,” Chowdary said.
One female injured patient each was also seen at the district hospitals of Baramulla, Pulwama and Kulgam, according to doctors in the health department.