Government forces fired rubber bullets and swung batons on Tuesday at Muslims protesting the deaths of two young women whom locals say were raped and killed by Indian soldiers. --PHOTO: REUTERS
SRINAGAR (India) - GOVERNMENT forces fired rubber bullets and swung batons on Tuesday at Muslims protesting the deaths of two young women whom locals say were raped and killed by Indian soldiers.
Thirty people were injured, including five who were hospitalised after being shot in Srinagar, the main city in the Indian portion of Kashmir, a police officer said on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to reporters.
Most in Kashmir favour independence from Hindu-majority India or a merger with predominantly Muslim Pakistan. The region is divided between the two nuclear-armed neighbours, and both claim the region in its entirety and have fought two wars over it.
Militant separatist groups have been fighting since 1989 to end Indian rule. More than 68,000 people, most of them civilians, have been killed in the uprising and subsequent Indian crackdown.
Authorities had banned assembly in the city and sealed off residential areas to prevent people from leaving their homes, said B. Srinivas, a top police officer, amid a series of mass demonstrations against the deaths of the two women. Their bodies were found in a stream on Saturday in Shopian, 35 miles (60km) south of Srinagar.
Anti-India sentiment runs deep in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where more than 200 people have been injured in clashes between government forces and angry protesters since Saturday, when police recovered the bodies of a 17-year-old woman and her 22-year-old sister-in-law.
Human rights groups and separatist leaders have long accused the Indian military of using rape and sexual molestation to intimidate the local population.
The military and paramilitary groups have not responded to the allegations, but police have said the women appear to have drowned.
Thousands of armed troops have fanned out across the region to prevent further protests.
Ms Mehbooba Mufti, member of the state legislature and the president of pro-India People's Democratic Party, was detained on Tuesday with 70 party workers in Srinagar, said Mr Srinivas.
Ms Mufti led the group in a march through the city, chanting slogans like 'we want justice' and 'resolve the Kashmir issue'. She was detained for violating a government order barring protests, Mr Srinivas said.
Shops, businesses and government offices were closed for a second day on Tuesday in protest. -- AP
