Kunan Poshpora incident

rdf:langString Kunan Poshpora incident

rdf:langString The Kunan Poshspora incident was an alleged mass rape that occurred on 23 February 1991 when unit(s) 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. The residents of the neighbourhood stated that militants had fired on soldiers nearby, which prompted the operation. Some of the villagers claimed that many women were raped by soldiers that night. The first information report filed in the police station after a visit by the local magistrate reported the number of women alleging rape as 23. However, Human Rights Watch asserts that this number could be between 23 and 100. These allegations were denied by the army. The government determined that the evidence was not sufficient and issued a statement condemning the allegations as terrorist propaganda. While the Government's investigations into the incident rejected the allegations as 'baseless', 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."