SRINAGAR Amid calls of justice for the three year old rape victim and student protests showing no signs of abating, the authorities on Wednesday shut down most of the educational institutions in the valley.
Fearing violent protests after two rape incidents were reported in Bandipora and Ganderbal districts this week, colleges in Srinagar city, Baramulla, Sopore, Bandipora, Ganderbal, Anantnag, Kupwara, Budgam and other districts were ordered shut.
Even the higher secondary schools were closed in many towns with vulnerable law and other situation.
The protests were further fuelled on Tuesday after reports of the Ganderbal rape incident surfaced even as the valley was already seething with anger over the May 9 Sumbal case. Police said the Ganderbal incident happened on Sunday.
The students of different educational institutions demanded justice to the victims and stern punishment to the accused as they clashed with the security forces.
Students of Amar Singh (AS) College, Srinagar, carrying placards and banners, staged protests in the college campus. They have been demanding death penalty to the accused.
The students of Kashmir Law College Nowshera Srinagar also took out a protest rally. The MBBS students of SKIMS Medical College in Bemina assembled in the premises and staged protests. They demanded the death penalty to the accused.
The students of various departments of University of Kashmir also took out peaceful protest rally inside the campus on Tuesday so did students of Boniyar Higher Secondary School in Uri in north Kashmir.
Students of Government Degree College Kangan in central Kashmir’s Ganderbal district skipped their classes and took out a protest march from the college campus to main market Kangan. The protesters carried placards reading: “Justice for Victim and Hang the Rapist”.
Police has already arrested the accused, Muhammad Asif Wani, 20, for allegedly raping a minor girl in his native Haran village of Ganderbal district. The victim is aged around 15 years.
In the Bandipora case too, accused Tahir Ahmed Mir, has been arrested.
A Shia-Sunni coordination committee of religious bodies have also appealed people to maintain calm and end protests as police has assured fair and speedy trial in both the cases.
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