Bijbehara village women suffer pellet injuries

Samaan Lateef

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 8

Reenu Jan, 27, is lying unconscious in the post-anaesthetic care unit of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh Hospital here after surgery to remove multiple pellets from her chest.

A cartridge of around 300 pellets had hit her in the chest and shattered her lungs. “Her lungs are damaged. We have put chest tubes to avoid accumulation of blood and air in the pleural cavity,” said a doctor.

Doctors said Jan was fortunate as the pellets had stopped in the pericardial cavity and not gone inside the heart. Jan has a two-year-old daughter.

Her family alleged that security forces personnel barged into houses at Simthan village of south Kashmir’s Bijbehara sub-district on Monday morning and beat up the occupants.

“We came out, where police and CRPF personnel fired on us,” said Ruby Begum, 40, of Simthan. “At least 25 persons, a majority of whom were women, were injured in pellet firing,” she said.

She received multiple pellet injuries in the right eye, head and face. Doctors said a pellet had damaged her retina and her chances of regaining vision were bleak.

Ishrat Javaid, 17, of Simthan was another victim of pellet firing. “I came out when policemen entered our house. We raised a hue and cry and policemen fired on us,” she said.

Ishrat received multiple pellets in the face. Doctors said her eyes were safe. “She has got fractures in nasal and cheek bones,” a doctor said.

Next to Ishrat is her neighbour Haseena Begum, 60, who was hit in the right eye. She suffered severe haemorrhage in the eye.

Doctors said they would seal the wound in the eye and once the wound settled, the procedure to restore her vision would be conducted.