The court of judicial magistrate in the Indian-administered Kashmir has ordered the reinvestigation of a gang-rape incident involving the Indian army and more than 30 women in 1991, Press TV reports.
On June 18, the court of Kupwara District ordered a three-month reinvestigation into the identity of suspected perpetrators of the sexual abuse in the village of Kunan Poshpora in February 1991, in which 30 women aged between 13 and 70 were allegedly gang-raped by the Indian army soldiers.
The case was reopened at the petition request of human rights lawyer Parvez Imroz, who criticized the previous inquiry. Å“The investigation is nullified, it has been a cover-up,” Imroz stated.
Å“Now the point is that whether the investigation will be really meaningful, purposeful even after the lapse of 22 years,” he said.
The court order comes a couple of months after a group consisting of lawyers, students, and teachers filed public interest litigation (PIL) before the High Court of the region, demanding justice for the victims.
Human rights groups including Human Rights Watch say the number of raped women is between 50 and 100, questioning the integrity of investigations.
The government of India has rejected the allegations against the army.
Å“Governments, whether it be of India or whether it be of [Kashmir], you have to understand that there has to be justice and there has to be peace. This is… what any human being in the world wants… If justice had been given constantly, the story in Kashmir would have been very different,” said Seema Mustafa, head of the delegation of the Central Investigation Team monitored by the Supreme Court of India.
According to a report released by a group of human rights activists last December, more than 500 Indian security personnel had a hand in various crimes including enforced disappearance, killing, rape and torture. However, they have been let off.
People in Kashmir accuse Indian officers of being insensitive to sexual crimes and ignoring related complaints. The judicial system of India has also been under fire for what critics say is having slow legal procedures regarding complaints of sexual abuse.
Kashmir lies at the heart of more than 65 years of hostility between India and Pakistan. Both countries claim the region in full, but each only has control over a section of the territory.
Over the past two decades, the conflict in Kashmir has left over 47,000 people dead by the official count, although other sources say the death toll could be as high as 100,000.
GMA/HSN
This article originally appeared on: Press TV