Shopian observes shutdown on Asiya and Neelofar’s 10th death anniversary
Shopian, May 30: A complete shutdown was observed in Shopian district on Thursday to mark the 10th death anniversary of Asiya and Neelofer, who were allegedly raped and murdered in 2009.
All shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed in main town Shopian. Public transport largely remained off the roads while some private vehicles plied.
Scores of locals and family members of Asiya and Neelofar staged a peaceful protest outside their house in Bangam locality of Shoipan town.
Speaking to ‘Kashmir Images’, Neelofar’s husband Shakeel Ahmad Ahanger said “all the three investigation agencies (Jan Commission, CBI and SIT) failed to deliver justice to us. Even after a decade justice still eludes us.”
He said international human rights organizations must probe the case. “We have no faith in Indian judicial system,” he said.
He said “everybody knows who perpetrated this heinous crime but they were shielded by successive governments.”
On May 29, 2009, Asiya (17) and Nelofar (22) had gone to their orchard across Rambi Ara stream in Shopian but did not return.
Next day, the duo was found dead and their bodies were recovered from banks of the stream.
The family alleged that they were raped and subsequently murdered. The incident triggered widespread protests across Kashmir, and Shopian district observed a continuous shutdown for 47 days.
The CBI probe had claimed that Asiya and Neelofar had died due to drowning.
The family rejected the findings of the probe and accused government of “shielding the criminals responsible for the rape and murder.”
