Violence against women sees sharp rise in Kashmir

A 32-year-old woman ended her life at her in-laws’ house in south Kashmir’s Anantnag district on Saturday. In a video recorded before her death, the woman had accused her in-laws of assaulting her and setting her ablaze. The couple already had a case pending in the court.

Last month, a 28-year-old, mother of two kids was set afire allegedly by her in-laws in the same district. She received 80% burns and is battling for her life in a hospital since then. Last December another 27-year-old woman from north Kashmir’s Bandipora district, was found dead at the home of her in-laws in mysterious conditions. Later police arrested three members of her in-laws' family in the case.

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In October last year, a 21-year-old woman was abducted by two men from a marriage ceremony in southern Kulgam district. She was taken to the nearby dense orchards where she was raped and then brutally murdered. A few days after the death of this woman, another similar crime was reported from the same district, in which a 17-year-old girl was raped and the video recorded, then shared by the accused on social media platforms.

These are not isolated cases, but violence against women has seen a sharp rise amid the conservative Muslim society in Kashmir in recent years. In several cases, women have been ruthlessly murdered by immediate family members.

The National Family Health Survey (NFHS) conducted by the Union Ministry of Health has shocking exposures about domestic violence against women in Jammu and Kashmir. The survey report, released in 2020, states that 9.6% of women in the age group 18-49 experienced domestic violence in 2019-20.

Five years ago, when J&K was still a state, the survey says 9.4% of women were subjected to domestic violence. It further reveals that domestic abuse and sexual harassment is more widespread in rural areas of J&K as compared to urban areas.

While 352 rape cases were registered in J&K 2014 here, the numbers dropped to 312, 263, and 314 in 2015, 2016 and 2017 respectively before again rising to 359 in 2018. Until March 2019, official data reveals, 1046 rape cases under trial, of which 831 are pending since 2014.

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The increase in cases of rape, abduction, molestation and domestic violence has created a cause for concern among civil society members and women. Kashmir-based women’s rights activist Ezabir Ali fears that the silence by the society on such brutal atrocities will only cause the increase in violence.

“Indifferent behavior of the society towards crimes against women will shrink the spaces for women in society. This will certainly restrict the mobility of women and girls and they will not be allowed by their families to step out alone,” she explains.

However, there are others who partly blame the government’s inaction for the rise in crime against women. Riyaz Ahmad, a university student says that in the last more than 20-months, the government has not initiated the process for establishing the office of the National Commission for Women in J&K.

“Since the state women’s commission was abolished after the revocation of J&K’s special status in August 2019, there has been an increase in domestic violence cases in J&K. But it seems the government is least bothered about such pressing issues,” he rued.

In 2015, Valley’s head priest Mirwaiz Umar Farooq had called for boycotting the households demanding dowry and abetting married women to suicide. He had also appealed to the women facing the brunt of domestic violence to show strength by informing their local Masjid management and the concerned organizations or rights bodies about what they were being subjected to.

However, six years down the line the situation has only worsened in Kashmir and women have continued to remain silent victims.