Kashmir’s stone-throwers kill ailing 11-day-old in Baramulla

An 11-day-old ailing boy was killed and his four-year-old brother injured after stone-throwers stopped their vehicle, dragged out passengers and beat them up at Baramulla district in Kashmir on Monday.

When the bus neared Chakala, a group of youths forced it to stop. “Baby Irfan was in his mother’s lap. He fell and got injured in the head when the youths dragged out his mother. His brother Obaid also got head injuries,” said Shakeel Beag, senior superintendent of police, Baramulla. Police have registered a case of murder under Section 302 RPC against the unknown assailants.

Nissar Ahmad Magray, the baby’s father, said Irfan was hit by the stone-throwers. “He started oozing blood from his nostrils. We took him to hospital where he was declared dead,” he said.
Baramulla remained on the boil for a second day on Monday after police arrested several people on charges of stone-throwing. Protesters clashed with police at several places and a bandh was also observed in some areas. The protesters asked the bus to stop and asked passengers, including baby Irfan’s family, to join their stir.

The baby’s grandfather and other family members pleaded with the protesters to allow them to go to hospital, but in vain. They relented much later, but by then it was too late.

The incident has shocked the entire state. PDP general secretary Dilawar Mir, who led a protest march against human rights abuses earlier in the day, said, “We don’t know who did it. But the incident deserves to be condemned.”