25-year-old Ishrat Muneer was executed by terrorists in Kashmir

SHOPIAN: In a first of its kind incident in Kashmir, a Pulwama woman was shot dead from point-blank range and the killing, recorded on camera, was circulated on social media.

The woman was identified by police as Ishrat Muneer, daughter of Muneer Ahmad, resident of Dangarpora area on outskirts of Pulwama town.

Family sources said that Ishrat on Thursday left home for studies but didn’t return on time. When her family members searched for her they did not find any trace of her till Friday morning, when the family was informed that their daughter had been found dead in a Shopian village with gunshot wounds on her body.

Locals from Sugan area of Shopian district said that some gunshots were heard in the area at night, which people thought to be from a gunfight. The body of the woman was found in an orchard in Dragad village, which is considered a locality of Sugan village.

Sources from the village said that the slain woman is the maternal cousin of slain Al-Badr commander Zeenat-ul-Islam, who was recently killed in an encounter at a Kulgam village along with an associate.

Locals from the area are speculating that the woman’s killing is revenge for her informing police about Zeenat ul Islam.

Police have called the killing a handiwork of militants. They said that a case has been registered and an investigation started.

The body of the slain woman was taken to police station Zainpora where, after official formalities, it was handed over to her family for performance of last rites.

The video of the killing, which began circulating on social media late Thursday evening, is being considered as the first of its kind where a woman has been shot dead on camera. Though several women were killed in similar ways during the years of militancy in 1990s, this is the first incident where the killing has been recorded on video.

Several videos went viral last year where people who were abducted by gunmen claimed on camera that some woman was involved in informing government forces about militants. One case was that of a woman from Pulwama district who was shot dead in Drabgam area of Pulwama soon after the killing of famous Hizb commander Sameer Tiger at his native village.