This is Asifa Bano, an 8 year old girl that lived in the northern Indian state of Jammu abd Kashmir, on the 10th of January 2018 she was grazing her horses in a meadow when she was kidnapped. A week later on the 17th of January her body was found in a forest near Kathua in the Indian region of Kashmir a mile away from where she lived.
Asifa lived with her family known as the Bakarwal, a group of Indian Sunni Muslims, where they lived among local Hindus who saw them as a threat. It is said that the crime was fueled by religious and political tensions. And the motive for the raping of the child was to drive away the Muslim family away from the area.
Reports say that when she was kidnapped she was taken to a prayer hall nearby, forensic reports say she had been drugged with anti-anxiety medication, repeatedly raped, burned, bludgeoned with a rock and strangled. In the end her body was thrown into the forest.
The Bakarwals were nomadic herders, Kashmir had over 1 million, they mainly had sheeps, goats and horses. In the summer they migrated to highlands and returned to Jammu in the winter to graze their animals. Living in temporary shelters. But over the past 20 years they have been settling in permanent homes, sparking conflict with the people already living in those areas.
In general the daily interactions between Hindus and Muslims have been quite peaceful. But since the Hindu nationalist party known as Bharatiya Janata Party was swept into power in 2014, India's religious minorities have felt increasingly isolated and attacks by Hindu extremist group have risen.
One of the men involved in the gang rape was Deepak Khujaria who was a local policeman, he was sent out to find her when the family reported her missing, based on DNA evidence he's been accused of committing the crime. Three other policemen have been charged with hindering investigations and tampering with DNA evidence, in one case they washed Asifa's clothes before sending it in for forensic testing.
This has sparked outrage in the Indian community as they were furious that politicians didn't speak out but instead were silent. Some locals defended the accused, thousands of members of a radical Hindu group with links to the ruling party marched to demand the release of the men accused in the raping of the girl inside the Hindu temple. Hundreds of Hindu lawyers have protested that the men were innocent, two ministers of the leading party attended a rally to support the accused but since have resigned.
Religious or political beliefs should be put aside when it comes to rape or murder or anything like this, just because she was Muslim the local Hindus were turning a blind eye and supporting the accused, we have to act rational in these cases and treat everybody the same. Justice will be served and the people that committed the crime should get what they deserve.
R.I.P Asifa Bano, an 8 year old girl that had a long future ahead of her but unfortunately she had it taken away from her by heartless men that should spend the rest of their lives behind closed doors.
Sources: https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2018/04/13/602249114/gang-rape-and-murder-of-8-year-old-girl-sparks-outrage-across-india
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/asifa-bano-india-outraged-over-brutal-rape-and-murder-8-year-old-girl/
