The Kunan Poshspora incident was a mass rape that occurred on 23 February 1991 when a unit of the Indian security forces, after being fired upon by militants, launched a search operation in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora, located in Kashmir's remote Kupwara District.[1] [2] While the first information report filed in the local police station after a visit by the local magistrate reported the number of women who reported rape as 23, the Human Rights Watch assessed the number of survivors to be up to 100.[3] [4]
The accusations were denied by the Indian army as the government "determined that the evidence was not sufficient" and issued a statement condemning the accusations as "terrorist propaganda".
The government's investigations into the incident rejected the reports as "baseless".[5] However, international human rights organizations have expressed serious doubts about the integrity of these investigations and the manner in which they were conducted. Human Rights Watch stated that the government had launched a "campaign to acquit the army of charges of human rights violations and discredit those who brought the charges."[6] [7]
The New York Times had quoted the residents of the Kunan Poshpora neighbourhood stating that militants had fired on security forces nearby, which prompted the search operation by the forces.[2] On 23 February 1991 the paramilitary troops of the Central Reserve Police Force and the Border Security Force cordoned off the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora to conduct a search operation for the militants. The men in the village were assembled outside and interrogated about the militant activity while the village was searched. After the search operation was over, villagers complained that many women were raped by soldiers that night.[2]
Later on the local leader of the Hizb-e-Islami militant group gave an interview to the New York Times in which he denied the claim that the group had shot first, but added that his commandos were armed to fight the forces off.[2]
The Press Council of India investigated the case in summer 1991 and concluded that the rape reports could not be proven. Following that, the government declared the case as "unfit for launching criminal prosecution" in September 1991 and closed it a month later.
The Press Council's conclusions were criticised by the Human Rights Watch which stated that the results of the examinations still raised questions about the activity of the Indian army in Kunan Poshpora. According to HRW, the Press Council's investigative committee had dismissed any evidence that may contradict the government version of events. The HRW report accused the committee of being focused on shielding the Indian government from criticism rather than uncovering truth.
The United States Department of State, in its 1992 report on international human rights, stated that there was "credible evidence" that supports the mass rape charges against the army unit at Kunan Poshpora.[8]
In 2004, one of the alleged victims approached the J&K State Human Rights Commission seeking a reinvestigation of the case. In 2007, more women asked the SHRC to reopen of the case. The villagers from the two villages formed Kunan-Poshpora Coordination Committee (KCC) headed by 70-year-old man Ghulam Ahmad Dar to seek justice for the victims.
In October 2011, the Jammu & Kashmir Human Rights Commission asked the J&K government to reinvestigate the reported mass rape case and compensate the victims.[9]
A writ petition filed in the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in 2013 alleged that more than 30 women had been raped. The charges had not been proved and there had been no progress in trial. The High Court observed that it hoped the committee appointed by the J&K government would examine and quickly implement the recommendations of the SHRC.
In December 2017, the J&K government approached the Supreme Court of India against orders of the High Court. The top court directed that the appeals should be heard expeditiously.[10]
The Indian Express reported on 21 July 2013 that the victims and their families were being socially ostracised by other villagers in the locality.[11] The only government school in the two affected villages teaches up to standard eight. The students going for higher education in the nearby Trehgam and Kupwara were taunted due to the incident and most of them choose to drop out after class eight.[11] Families not involved in the incident at the same villages have disassociated socially with the victims' families. Villagers claimed that it was difficult to find grooms for their children.[11]