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Anantnag, August 30
Two days after a woman was set ablaze allegedly by her in-laws, the police in south Kashmir’s Shopian district are yet to make any arrests in the case.
The woman, who received severe burn injuries, is battling for life in Srinagar’s SMHS hospital.
Shopian SP Altaf Khan maintained that they could not make any arrests as her statement was yet to be recorded.
“We are monitoring her situation closely at the hospital. A case has been prepared and the only formality is the woman’s statement,” Khan said.
He said arrests would be made as soon as Shokey put forth her statement. Shokey Jan, 24, was allegedly beaten on Friday afternoon and then set on fire by her husband Aijaz Ahmad Sheikh at their residence in Nadigam village here.
The family of the victim have alleged that she had been a victim of domestic violence for quite a while now.
“On Friday her husband along with his brother Mohammad Shaban Sheikh and his son Shabir spread kerosene over her and set her ablaze,” Shokey’s brother Ghulam Mohi-Ud-Din said.
He said she was set ablaze after a severe beating by her in-laws. The family alleged that Shokey after being set on fire was locked inside a room to muffle her cries, however one of the neighbours heard
her cries.
He said the neighbours rescued the girl, rushed her to the hospital and called her family. “Thanks to the neighbours, my sister might be able to live, otherwise they (her in-laws) had planned to kill her,” Din said, adding that the neighbours took her to Shopian district hospital from where she was
referred to SMHS Hospital in Srinagar.
Following the incident, Shopian MLA Muhammad Yousuf Bhat, accompanied by senior police officials from the district, visited SMHS hospital to enquire about Shokey.
Doctors at the hospital say that Shokey might take some time to recover.
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