Another Gruesome Murder And Rape Of A Minor Leaves The Valley Shaken

To avenge a long-standing grudge, a nine year-old girl was gang-raped by her stepbrother and his friends. Her body was mutilated and bathed in acid to destroy the evidence. The mastermind behind the crime was her stepmother. 

On August 23, when Muslims all over the world were celebrating the second day of Eid-Ul-Adha, the Ganai family of Lari Trikanjan Uri Boniyar, an area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla district were looking for nine year-old Mehreen Jan (name changed), who had left for the nearby forest with her cattle, and never came back. 

After having lunch with her family, she had informed her father Mushtaq Ahmad Ganai that she was taking the cattle for grazing to the forest. That was the last time Mehreen was seen in the village.

As usual, Mushtaq, a 48-year-old bread maker, thought that Mehreen will be home before dusk. Mehreen’s 36-year-old mother Khushboo, was waiting for her daughter at the gate. With each passing moment, tension kept rising.

Mushtaq tried his best to find out Mehreen. He called all his relatives including his nephew Parvaiz Ahmad Ganai who lived in Danichula Baramulla. 

“My uncle called me and asked about Mehreen, I was shocked when he told me she is missing since afternoon,” Parvaiz said. 
All the villagers were trying to trace Mehreen but there was no positive news from anyone. The next day, Mushtaq and his family, accompanied by some of the neighbours went to the district hospital Baramulla, and inquired if any case was registered in her name but they received a negative response there as well. “Soon after leaving from the hospital we went to the Boniyar police station and filed a missing report,” said Parvaiz. 

All the villagers, police, and the army were out to trace Mehreen but to no avail. 

On September 3, a group of women went to the forest to collect wood, when one of the women Shameema Begum saw a small slipper and noticed a foul smell around. 

“Shameema told us that she tried to check from where the smell was coming that led her to a dead body,” said Parvaiz.  
The dead body was mutilated and partially decomposed, wrapped in a half torn pink dress. Shameema’s cries made the other women to rush to the spot. They soon realised it was the dead body of Mehreen.

The family soon rushed to the spot. “We thought that she was attacked by the animals,” recalls Parvaiz. 

However, it was only after the police found some materials near the corpse that led them to take the matter in their hands. The whole town broke into protests once the corpse was found. A special investigation team (SIT) headed by SDPO Uri, Mehrajuddin Raina, and Boniyar station house officer Iqbal Ahmad was constituted to investigate the case. 

Within two days, the police came to know that Mehreen was gang-raped and murdered brutally. Following her rape, acid was thrown on her private parts and her eyes were gouged out to destroy the evidence. The police later revealed that the crime was committed by her “step mother and step brother”. 

Mehreen was made the victim of a long standing feud within the family, arising with her father leaving his previous wife, Fahmeeda (victim’s stepmother) and her son (victim’s stepbrother), and marrying and setting up family with his current wife (victim’s mother).

“My uncle met Khushboo, who is from Jharkhand. She used to work as a maid in the shop owner’s house,” recalls Parvaiz. Without telling her that he is already married, Mushtaq got married to Khushboo. 

Both the wives started living under the same roof. Khushboo had three children, two daughters and a son. Mehreen was the eldest one. Fahmeeda had a long-standing grudge against Khushboo due to their differences. To avenge this, she along with her son planned the killing of Mehreen. Fahmeeda’s son with three other accused committed the heinous crime. Following the rape, Fahmeeda strangulated the girl and her son hit her head with an axe, killing her on spot.  One of the accused then got some battery acid from home. Another one  gouged her eyes with a knife and acid was sprinkled on her body parts. Finally, her body was dumped in the bushes. 

The victim’s stepbrother (the main accused) has had a notorious image in his village. He had previously been rusticated from school which led him to drop his studies. In 2014, he left his family and started living in the main town Baramulla, where he had told everyone that he is an orphan. 

Soon after the interrogation, police recovered all the material and weapons of the gruesome crime including the axe and knife. Also, the plastic can containing the acid has been recovered. The SSP said that all necessary samples of material and circumstantial evidence had been collected and despatched for thorough forensic analysis.

All the accused have been arrested. The case has been converted from a missing report into a suspected case of rape and murder. 

“As the details got revealed during investigations, I broke down,” SSP Baramulla Imtiaz Hussain told reporters. “It is the most inhuman case I have ever handled in my career.”