It seems that the menace of drugs played a major role in the rape and murder of a nine-year-old girl in Tanger, Lari area of Boniyar in district Baramulla. Police sources revealed to Newslaundry that one of the accused was high on drugs when he raped the nine-year-old girl. The business of Charas in Boniyar is going on unabated as police authorities are trying hard to keep the drug suppliers at bay. Also, the area is considered to be the supply route used by drug suppliers for the entire region of north Kashmir.

The investigating officer in charge of the rape and murder case, told Newslaundry: “Most youth of Lari belt are drug addicts. Charas, which is easily available around the hillocks, is one of the main drugs taken by the youth. Brown Sugar and Heroin are also in abundance here. It comes from across the border. They (Pakistan) don’t send money nowadays; it (money) now comes in the form of drugs. Sahil, the step-brother of the nine-year-old and one of the accused in the case, is a regular Charas smoker.”

He said that the police had arrested seven people in the area related to the drugs supply, but four main suppliers still remained at large.

“Drugs played a major role in the rape and murder of the nine-year-old girl in Lari village. Had the drug menace not taken over the area, we may not have had this incident take place,” he said.

As the Eid festivities were around the corner on August 23, the nine-year-old girl went to out to buy ice-cream but never returned back home. She was taken by her step-mother, Fahmeeda, into the jungles of Tanger.

The road leading to the victim’s house

An investigation officer provided the chilling details of the rape to Newslaundry. He said that Naseer aka Gudu (35), a chronic drug addict and a close friend of Sahil, was already in the jungle waiting for the nine-year-old girl. She was first raped by Naseer, then by her step-brother Sahil, and then by Sahil’s friend (also another drug addict) Kaisar. There was another friend of Sahil namely Aadil but he did not rape her.

“When all three finished raping her, they asked Aadil to come forward but by the time Aadil came near the nine-year-old, she was already dead,” the investigating officer said.

While the gruesome act was going on, her step-mother Fahmeeda, was standing there watching how the entire incident unfold.

“When we asked her (Fahmeeda) how she felt when all this was going on, her response would even put the shaitaan to shame,” said the officer. “When they were raping her, I didn’t feel anything. When she was crying, it made me happy. When they finished raping her, then gauged her eyes out with a knife, that time I felt a bit bad for her. This explains the amount of hate the step-mother had for her child.”

The officer said that it was Kaisar who gauged her eyes out with a knife.

Gudu committed vaginal rape with the victim, while Sahil and Kaisar anally raped the nine-year-old girl. Then, Sahil hit her head with an axe. She died instantly.

“After raping and killing her, Fahmeeda sent Aadil to fetch acid from the nearby market,” said the officer. “They sprinkled acid not only on her private parts but inside her mouth as well. Ninety per cent of the body was unrecognisable.”

The heart-wrenching incident was best described by the victim’s grandmother, at her modest home in Lari. She said: “A dreaded eagle came and plucked-out my little angel from the flock of six siblings.”

Lari is a small village in Boniyar area. There are around 30 to 40 houses scattered around the hillocks in Lari. The village is surrounded by thick jungles and hamlets like Tanger. A waste dumping site lies nearby Tanger. An army camp is located close to this dumping site. The site is used more by drug abusers than for the purpose of dumping waste.

The victim’s house

One of Sahil’s neighbours told Newslaundry: “Sahil used to be at this dumping site for hours, ingrained into charas. He was a regular visitor at the dumping site. Sometimes, with other youth, Sahil used to spend entire nights at the site.”

Sahil, a student of Trikanjan High School, was not good at studies either; he would usually bunk classes and roam around with his friends.

“He would carry some of his clothes in his school bag,” said the neighbour. “He would change his uniform and skip school. This was his regular practice. He would roam around with his friends and was a regular smoker.”

While all of Kashmir was celebrating Eid-ul-Adha on August 23, the brother turned beast was second in line to rape his nine-year-old sister in the jungles of Tanger.

Mushtaq Ahmed, the father of the victim, has six children, including the victim, from two marriages. He first got married to Fahmeeda in 2007-08 and then to Khushboo in 2011.

At first, Mushtaq was able to maintain the relationship between his two wives but as time passed, differences grew between them, and with the passage of time, Mushtaq became closer to Khushboo—whose daughter was the nine-year-old victim—than towards Fahmeeda. Mushtaq’s indifferent attitude towards Fahmeeda was one of the main reasons why she wanted revenge on Mushtaq.

The investigating officer said that it was only to avenge Mushtaq that Fahmeeda took such a drastic step. “She basically wanted to avenge Mushtaq for not paying attention to her.”

Khushboo told Newslaundry: “We (Khushboo and Fahmeeda) used to fight with each other often. But none of us had imagined that it would come to such a thing. We are only waiting for forensic reports so that we come to know who the culprits are.”

Mushtaq, a baker by profession, said: “I don’t think that Fahmeeda would do such a thing. Why didn’t this thing happen in the past? Why did she wait for all these years? She could have done this much earlier as well…”

When this reporter visited the victim’s house in Lari, apart from the family and children, no one visited their place—which is in total contrast with the tradition of Kashmir.

“We don’t want to go to their place,” said a neighbour. “What happened in their home is totally against Kashmir’s tradition and culture. Whatever happened, it only happened due to their internal family dispute. They have brought a bad name to our village. The media is also playing spoilsport; they have painted all of Lari with the same brush. If they (Mushtaq’s family) had done anything wrong, then why is the media pointing fingers at all of us?”