Thirteen years after India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) ruled out the rape and murder of two women in south Kashmir’s Shopian and charge-sheeted 13 people for fabricating evidence, the Jammu and Kashmir administration led by LG Manoj Sinha on Thursday terminated two doctors involved in the autopsies of the women for allegedly “collaborating with Pakistan and falsifying the post mortem reports of Asiya and Neelofar.”
A top official in the LG administration said that the doctors (Dr Bilal Ahmad Dalal and Dr Nighat Shaheen Chilloo) played a pivotal role in “distorting the post-mortem report of Asiya and Neelofar, two unfortunate individuals from Shopian who had met an untimely demise due to accidental drowning on May 29, 2009.”
“Their ultimate goal of was to sow discord against the Indian state by falsely implicating the security forces in acts of rape and murder,” he said.
On May 29, 2009, when Omar Abdullah was the chief minister, the bodies of two women were found near a stream in Shopian amid allegations that they were raped and murdered by Indian military at a time when the state was boiling over the 2008 Amarnath land row agitation.
On 30 May, the police claimed that the “post-mortem conducted revealed no marks on the bodies, including private parts”.
Later, the then Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah of the National Conference, appointed Justice Muzzafar Jan to investigate the matter.
The Jan Commission found in its report that the women were raped and murdered by “men in uniform”.
A Forensic Science Lab report confirmed gang rape of the duo on Sunday, 7 June 2009.
On 9 June, 2009; the High Court Bar Association probing the matter independently released its fact-finding report which concluded that the duo were abducted, gang-raped and murdered rather were raped even after the murder.
Their report demanded police to file case under sections 363, 366, 376, 120B of RPC for kidnap of a minor, abduction of a major, rape, murder and conspiracy respectively. It even mentioned that the SP had forced the doctors to change statements and that the SP of Shopian, concerned SHO, Shafeeq Ahmed, doctors of the hospital, Shopian, Dr Hilal, Dr Nazir and Dr Bilquees, all are guilty of failure of duties and destruction of proof.
Police filed FIR against murder of the duo too, under 302 Ranbir Penal Code the next day.
Later, an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation claimed that the duo died due to drowning in Rambi Canal. However, their family members continue to deny that the duo “could not have drowned in ankle-deep water”.
The CBI probe found that both teams of doctors lied in the post-mortem reports. The first team of doctors said Asiya Jan died due to cardiovascular arrest and Neelofar died due to neurogenic shock.
Also, an AIIMS forensic team comprising Dr T D Dogra and Dr Anupama Raina got the bodies exhumed and found that Asiya Jan's hymen was intact. The same reports were part of the CBI charge sheet.
In December 2009, the CBI concluded that the two women were neither raped nor murdered.
The CBI filed a charge sheet against six doctors, five lawyers and two civilians, including the brother of one of the deceased women, for fabricating evidence.
The CBI report quoted the medical opinion of AIIMS doctors who conclusively stated that the deaths took place "due to asphyxia as a result of ante-mortem drowning". It said the lacerated wound on Asiya Jan's forehead was not sufficient to cause death.
However, a second team of doctors from Pulwama claimed Asiya Jan was sexually assaulted and died due to haemorrhage and shock caused by bleeding from multiple injuries. Neelofar, the team had claimed, died due to neurogenic shock following sexual intercourse.