Prof Javed Mughal
Rajouri, which, till yesterday, used to be a symbol of peace and security, has now turned out to be a locus of heinous crimes and inhuman activities. The recently developed ‘Child-stealing and Killing’ culture has sent across a galvanic shock through the spine of one and all in Rajouri Town and its surrounding areas. Fear of losing children can be seen and perceived to have replaced the smiling countenance with the dismal semblance on the face of the poor parents. The parents can be seen clinging to their school going or school returning children so tightly as if they were afraid of losing them the next moment. The life as a whole stands confused and confounded. During the last few months, three innocent children between the age group of 8 to 14 years have been picked up and killed so mercilessly that one, with a human heart to feel and a rational mind to think gets shocked to know about it. My heart sinks down in despair when I look at the inordinate degree of cruelty and barbarism with which the human-urned-vultures have killed these docile creatures and smeared their beaks with their innocent blood very recently in Rajouri. Approximately 12 years old son of Mr. Sadiq of Rajouri town was taken to the nearby City-Stadium and strangulated to death. A couple of months later, another immaculate and angelic 8 years old son of Qazi Masoor of Rajouri was kidnapped (when he had hardly alighted from the school bus) by someone and was killed so brutally that it is almost difficult for me to explain. His beautiful teeth were pulled out because he did not, reportedly, open his mouth when the killers were trying to make him take some intoxicant. He was tied with ropes, bruised and thrashed a lot. The next day the dead body of this only son of Qazi Masoor was recovered in a very pitiable and painful state of affairs. It was, off-course, the height of barbarism and inhumanity. Exactly two or three days after about ten kilometers from the town of Rajouri a third dead body of an 8th class student was recovered while it was hanging from a tree. The people say that this poor boy was sent by his parents to some relative for fetching a ram for sacrifice on Eid-ul-Azha and the boy was carrying some amount of money with him which was looted when he was killed. To make the matters worse, some of the reliable sources of Raouri disclosed to the media while expressing anguish over what happened to these precious lives here, that before these three heart-rending killings, a child of almost the same age was also killed near Jawahar Nagar of Rajouri Town. Although none of the children (kidnapped and killed) could be rescued by the Police but a sigh of relief is still there because almost all the culprits have been nabbed and being interrogated in depth and details. I take it to be a major success of the Police Department.
The point of concern is that all these kids have been killed in a similar fashion. They have all been strangulated fully tied with ropes all around the body. This style of killing the children compels me to doubt that there may be some master-mind group behind all this melo-drama. But then I reject this notion of mine for the fact that had there been some master-mind group behind, that would definitely have done it for money or some other gain. The second notion that strikes my mind is that these incidents are in no way inter-connected and are the by-product of some personal grudge at one point and some other consideration at the other. The third and the most viable point that comes to my mind is that there may be a tinge of personal enmity or rivalry behind all these heart-rending tragedies but there is some professional group or some other professional minds which might have been hired for the perpetration of such inhuman acts. Whatever the reason may be, the parents have lost their most precious assets of life. They were the only sons of their parents and were to translate the dreams, hopes and aspirations of their parents in future. What would be the parents’ mental state at the moment, we must try to understand. This cult has raised its ugly head and does not seem to stop soon. God knows how far this obnoxious practice of stealing and killing the innocent children shall continue and how many parents are yet to be left with tears in the eyes. I would like to convey to the District Administration of Rajouri and the Govt. of Jammu and Kashmir that there is a huge influx of the people from other states in Rajouri. They, in abundance, come to this place as labourers and can most probably be supposed to be instrumental in the execution of such crimes. They may commit such crimes for money which they are primarily here for. Anyone who does not belong to this state can commit the murder more easily for a hefty amount of money (which he will otherwise earn in years together) and go back to his native place. My suggestion is that Govt. must come forward to make the fool proof arrangement of their proper Registration in their respective places of work. They must be registered with concerned police stations and allowed to stay at a place on the strength of surety bonds submitted by the local residents of the area.
They must be allowed to stay here only as per the requirement leaving them no more at large. Whosoever comes from outside the state should be affiliated with some factory, contractor or department where their services are needed and the same feeding agencies must be responsible for these non local workers. Let it be binding on all of them to leave their sojourning locations with the permission of the concerned police stations. They must be registered after detailed verification from their native police departments. It should also be made compulsory for them to pay tax of their income to the state where they are working. Their all activities must properly be monitored and a critical surveillance must be kept on them. Apart from it, at least all the cities where this crime-weed is sprouting should be put on the CCT Cameras so that the activities carried out by one and all within the ken of these cameras can at least be censored and monitored properly. I admit that although this way the tide of the crime can’t be stemmed up fully but there is all possibility to discourage it to the great extent. I am very sorry to say that the District Administration Rajouri has been bragging of installing CCT Cameras in Rajouri town for a long time but till now no action on the ground has taken place. The Camera-posts were planted months earlier, but cameras are nowhere. Had these CCT Cameras installed well in time, the only innocent son of Qazi Masoor and that of Mr. Sadiq would have been recovered quite alive because both of them were picked up from the main market. It is a matter of grave concern that the criminal practices on the pattern of those in mega-cities are getting in vogue in a small town of Rajouri and if some solid step is not taken to check them at this stage, it will not only engulf this town and district totally but also spread its tentacles into other parts of the state also. Hence the Govt. should extend some sudden and stringent punishment to these culprits so that the others flexing their muscles to follow the foot-prints of these criminals can get no chance. Some strinonged inquiries since it has been seen that the cases however strong they may be, lose their effect with the passage of time due to procedural delays. In a way I also hold the Govt. and other crime controlling mechanisms in the state and the country responsible for the increasing incidents of crime because it is due to the nonchalant attitude of the govt. and slow-process of inquiries in courts and sometimes non-genuine acquittals of the culprits on the basis of a few witnesses which can be hired an purchased in no time that the criminal incidents receive an impetus in the society.
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