Kashmir arrest a step for accountability: Human Rights Watch

The arrest of a BSF constable on charges of killing a Kashmiri teenager could be an important step to curtail security forces abuses, a US-based eminent human rights organisation has said.
    
Human Rights Watch said the government should also investigate and appropriately punish any senior officers implicated in the case.

"It is extremely rare for the security forces in Kashmir to turn over one of their own to the civilian justice system," said Meenakshi Ganguly, senior South Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch.

"Now they should go a step further to see if senior officers were also responsible," she said.
    
Lakhvinder Kumar of the Border Security Force's 68th Battalion is being held as a suspect in the killing of 16-year-old Zahid Farooq in Srinagar on February 5.

Based on an internal inquiry by the BSF, Kumar was suspended and handed over to the police who have detained him. The killing led to widespread protests across Kashmir.

"The promise that Zahid Farooq's killers will be identified and brought to justice is a long overdue step in addressing abuses by government forces," Ganguly said.