A PaK woman elected unopposed as sarpanch and panch in Kupwara

Srinagar: A Pakistan Administered Kashmir (PaK) resident woman, married to a Kashmiri, has been elected unopposed at sarpanch and panch in the frontier district of Kupwara, official sources said.
They said a 35-year-old Arifa Begum, resident of village Palandari, Muzaffarabad, capital of PaK, had married to Ghulam Mohammad Mir who had crossed over to other side of the Line of Control (LoC) in 2001 for receiving arms training.
However, Mir, a resident of Khumiryal, Kupwara and his wife Arifa returned to Kashmir via Nepal in 2010 after the government announced rehabilitation policy for Kashmiri youths who wanted to return after shunning the path of militancy.
Arifa has filed nomination papers from sarpanch and panch wards in Khumriyal-B in Kupwara. However, she was the only candidate to file nomination papers and got elected unopposed on both seats.