New Delhi, June 28: Defence Minister A.K. Antony Thursday ordered a probe into the alleged molestation of a girl by two soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir, an incident that has sparked widespread protests.
"The minister has taken the incident seriously and asked the defence secretary to look into it," a defence ministry official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.Bandipora town in north Kashmir Wednesday witnessed protests and a shutdown for the second day Wednesday against the alleged molestation of a local girl by two soldiers of the 57 Rashtriya Rifles counter-insurgency force.
Hundreds of angry demonstrators shouted slogans against the army in Bandipora, 54 km from Kashmir summer capital Srinagar, even as locals paraded the offenders naked and with their heads shaven.
The locals said the two soldiers were caught while attempting to rape a girl in Kunan village on the outskirts of Bandipora town late Tuesday.The soldiers are currently lodged in the Bandipora police station.Ten civilians and five policemen were rounded up Wednesday when police intervened to take the two soldiers into custody."
The soldiers were on routine patrol duties in Kunan when the civilians took them hostage. We have initiated our investigations into the matter," said Brigadier V. Garg, commander of the army's 81 Mountain Brigade under whose command the Rashtriya Rifles operates in Bandipora district.
The protesters, however, maintained that the soldiers could not have been on patrol duty as they were unarmed and were caught from a house in the village.The district administration has assured the people that appropriate action would be taken against the soldiers after investigations.
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