Killar village, Shopian:
A 20-year-old woman was shot dead by unidentified militants in front of her family in South
Kashmir's Shopian district, police said on Wednesday.
The gunmen barged into the victim's house in Hergam-Keller, 70 kms from here, at around 8:30 pm on Tuesday night and after identifying the woman, Sheeraza Akhtar, shot her in her abdomen and chin. Akhtar was a divorcee.
"For 13 years I have given militants shelter and food and carried their weapons. Nobody knew about it. Yesterday they came and killed my daughter," said Mohammad Maqbool Mir, father.
The militants killed the 20-year-old in front of her father because Mir and his family had stopped supporting them.
In their grief the Mir family is alone.
No one has come calling in support, not neighbours, not mainstream political parties nor even the government.
A glaring gap considering Shopian has been raging since May over the murder of two women Aasiya and Neelofer.
"We have had some unfortunate incidents in Shopian where two women had unfortunate death. But in case of these unfortunate killings by terrorists, nobody has raised the voice," said Farooq Ahmad, Inspector General of Police, Kashmir.
Understandable because of the overwhelming fear of militant backlash.
The only brief condemnation that has come is ironically from separatist leaders: Cold comfort for a family who have been forced to face the bloody reality of their choice in the worst possible way.