Srinagar|June, 28 : A local court in south Kashmir’s Anantnag on Friday rejected the bail application of a man accused of raping a 70-year-old tourist from Maharashtra at the popular resort town of Pahalgam over two months ago. The horrific incident occurred in April this year.
In its order, the Principal Sessions Judge, Anantnag, Tahir Khurshid Raina yesterday observed that the “revered” and elderly guest was “treated so shockingly in a land of saints and seers” that she would forever regret her choice to visit Kashmir. “The alleged incident is highly unfortunate, condemnable by all possible words , and ought to have jolted the conscious of this society which claims its moorings to be based on rich ethical values and culture- but now stands shaken to the hilt. A revered guest, who was a senior lady was on her visit to this land of saints and seers, was treated so shabbily and shockingly that for all times to come, she will have remorse over the choice of place she made to spend a period of her old age days with her children,” the Judge Raina said. “It is not an isolated act to be ignored, but a reflection of a highest degree of depravity and sick mentality prevailing in the society-which must bow its head down in shame and invites a serious introspection as to what it stood for, and how that has now collapsed,” he added.
The prosecution told the court that a 70-year-old widow from Maharashtra, who was in Pahalgam with her son’s family to enjoy the “beauty of Kashmir”, was allegedly sexually assaulted by the accused. “..Taking the advantage of her being alone in her hotel room at Pahalgam, the accused entered her room, gagged her mouth in the blanket, raped her, caused her injuries, and then fled through the window of the room. So brutal was the sexual assault on her that the old lady was unable to sit and move and remained in pain for days together,” the court was told. The court said the investigation in the case is going on and the perusal of the Case Diary (CD) file prima facie reveals the commission of offence of rape on a senior citizen. The accused had moved an application for bail on the grounds that the police harboured some personal grudge against him and his father, on account of which he has been falsely implicated in the case. The court, however, said, “This court does not legally reconcile with the prayer for bail at this stage, which is accordingly rejected.” The judge said this court, which every day witnesses the reflection of the probity level of this society, expresses its concern that it is hopelessly getting eroded on various fronts.“No sooner the sheet-anchors, conscious keepers, watch dogs, and philanthropists of this society will rise to the occasion to check what is going wrong on the moral front of the society, the better will be for saving the Kashmir as the paradise on earth in its true sense, the judge said, “Mere meadows, mountains, lush green fields, forests, springs, rivers, rivulets and gardens will not come to the rescue of Kashmir as a desired tourist destination,” the judge added.
The court order opens with an Urdu couplet: “Rastey mein sanghrazno ne diya pani mujhay. Zarra zarra hai meray Kashmir ka mehman nawaz ( en route, pebbles offered me water. Every particle of my Kashmir is a cradle of hospitality). The judge said Kashmir’s rich cultural values combined with a blend of hospitality par excellence, has attracted tourists from across the world to visit, experience and enjoy the enchanting beauty of Kashmir-often described as “heaven on earth”. These tourists have, in turn, enriched the culture and value system of the Kashmir to a level that matches the global standard of civilization. He added that the incident has cast a shadow over the said legacy of Kashmir– it unfortunately also relates to Pahalgam which is not known in the world today for good reasons, contrary to the status it enjoyed on the tourist map of the country and the world.
