SRINAGAR A shocking development of a mentally challenged woman being allegedly gang-raped by two men near Makhdoom Sahib shrine was revealed by a social activist in a Facebook post here. The woman became pregnant and delivered her stillborn child in the open on November 20, posted social activist Mantasha Bint Rashid, who is the member of women help group Kashmir Women’s Collective (KWC). She said her organisation contacted a Kangan resident, who had taken the girl to a nearby primary health care centre after learning about her condition.
“Her family and relatives distanced themselves fearing social stigma, as a result she used to roam freely on roads. She was most likely raped in the evening at the nearby graveyard and due to her mental instability, she cannot recognise the accused,” the social activist added.
According to her KWC has got in touch with the police and the investigations are on.
She wrote on the Facebook, “The face of the mentally challenged woman who delivered a child in open on a roadside in this weather on November 20 and pulled out her foetus in pain isn’t letting me sleep in this cosy bed.
She added that the woman’s family has distanced from her and she has been turned down by many government agencies.
“The pain, trauma and the unstitched cuts on her body are not letting me complain of my backache. She’s mentally challenged and many like me are wasting away their mental faculties. Her family is distancing from her because she’s mentally challenged and now raped, and I am upset because my family sometimes seems to bother much about me,” Mantasha wrote.
The incident has been reported to one stop centre for women here. The centre is run by the union ministry of women and child development. In response to Mantashas post, Sameena Mir, the state coordinator at a state resource centre for women, department of social welfare, said the case has come to their notice and that they will assist in the required health and institutional care of the woman and her child.
According to Mantasha, in absence of proper shelter homes, it is very difficult for victim survivors to be supported. We must advocate for at least one professionally run shelter home for women. We are trying but it has not yielded positive results,” she said.
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