Still under threat to marry

Dar fled the village with his daughters but returned with human rights activist Mohammad Ahsan Untoo yesterday and tried to stage a demonstration in front of the civil secretariat on the first day of the reopening of its offices in Srinagar. Police arrested the four about half-a-kilometre from the secretariat and detained them for hours.

Dar had earlier threatened to immolate himself if the culprits responsible for molesting his daughter were not arrested. Suriya had recently fled from the clutches of the surrendered militants. ‘‘We have been striving for justice for the past two months in Srinagar but no one is coming to our rescue,’’ Dar told The Indian Express. He said Mir and his colleagues have threatened to kill him if he did not marry 17-year-old Suraiya to Mir.

‘‘I was told my house would be torched if I do not marry her (Suraiya) to Mir. He also warned me that he would forcibly marry my other daughter to his colleague,’’ Dar added.

Faced with this situation, the family decided to send the two sisters away from the village. But Mir and his friends traced them and kidnapped the sisters. The younger was let off, while the elder was held captive for three months.

While she was in captivity, Mir would often threaten Dar’s family not to protest. ‘‘He would send his armed colleagues to threaten us that they would abduct my younger daughter too if we objected to the marriage,’’ Dar said.

‘‘Now that we are in Srinagar, they are threatening to kill my wife and two little sons, if I don’t bring her (Suriya) to them,’’ he said.

Deputy Inspector-General, Central Kashmir Zone, Farooq Ahmad said police have already arrested one of the accused and put him in judicial custody, while another team is looking for Mir. ‘‘There are reports that he (Mir) has again joined the militants. We are carrying out raids to nab him. A police party yesterday raided a suspected hideout. We are going to catch him soon,” he said.