MUZAFFARABAD: Around 35 people, including two women, were injured after Indian troops and police resorted to tear gas shelling on the funeral of a teenager in the capital of India-held Kashmir on Saturday.
The 16-year-old boy, Qaiser Hameed Sofi, of the Shalimar area of Srinagar, was found unconscious a day after he went missing on Oct 27. He was admitted to the Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS) where he died on Friday.
According to reports from Srinagar, the family of the deceased alleged that Indian troops had tortured and poisoned him, while Srinagar police claimed that he had gone missing and was found lying in a drain near an industrial complex.
Qaiser’s father Abdul Hameed Sofi, an artisan, told the Srinagar-based Current News Service: “He opened his eyes and told his mother: ‘I was arrested by forces and given poison before they beat me ruthlessly’.”
Abdul Hameed said Qaiser was lying on a bed in the casualty ward of the SKIMS and almost 20 people, including doctors, were witness to what he had said before he died.
Qaiser’s cousin Ayash said his chest, hands and legs had injuries. “Poison had circulated all over his body,” he said, quoting doctors.
“He had marks of injuries on his body and his brain was damaged as well. It was not a simple case of poisoning,” a doctor said.
On Saturday morning, as the body was being prepared for funeral, Indian troops resorted to firing into the air and then fired tear smoke canisters and pellets on mourners. “Soon, hundreds of people came out in protest and clashes erupted,” witnesses said. Qaiser was laid to rest in the Martyrs Graveyard.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Office condemned his killing by “Indian occupation forces”.
November 6th, 2016 DAWN News
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