Under house detention, Mehbooba Mufti says torture video leaked to instil fear in people

The 29-second video leaked on social media purportedly shows Army men beating civilians, stripping them, and putting chilli powder in their wounds and private parts.

“The government wants to send a message all across to the already disenfranchised people of Jammu and Kashmir that ‘you have no one who could make a query about your welfare’. ‘We will torture you, but won’t allow anyone to mitigate your sufferings’. Such a great injustice. What can be worse than this?” she asked.

“They beat people, torture them in custody, make a video, and circulate it,” Mufti said. “It is common sense that a civilian cannot make a video inside Army custody and circulate it. They want to convey this message to all people that ‘this is what we are capable of doing’. How much fear do they want to instill in all of us?” she asked.

Mufti said that “disturbing” reports were pouring in from Poonch and that it was important for her to visit the area and meet the victims’ families. “They have not only taken people in custody from one particular area but people from Thanamandi, Pargai, and adjoining hamlets are also being bundled. Such is the harsh treatment that many there are in critical condition in hospitals,” she alleged.

“From Thanamandi Pargai, a boy named Farooq is stuck in the struggle between life and death in the hospital. In 2005, militants attacked him, killing five members of his family. What more sacrifice can a person give to the country? Now, they have arrested him and tortured him to the extent that he is currently struggling for life in the hospital. So much injustice,” she claimed.

Mufti said the “heart-wrenching situations are changing the equations” saying the “rhetoric of ‘Dil aur Dilli ki doori khatam karna hai’ has gone”.

Last Friday, eight civilians were picked up by security forces for questioning in connection with the ambush of two Army vehicles by militants, and three of them were found dead at night, leading to huge outrage in the region. Four Army soldiers were killed in the ambush on Thursday evening.

Five others were admitted with injuries to a government hospital in Rajouri. Their relatives have alleged that the eight people had been tortured during questioning.