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She is afraid to talk. And when she does, it's in suppressed whispers _ of 25 days of torture at the hands of militants who raped her repeatedly and chopped her ears and nose before she was rescued by the police.
Barely into her teens, Mariam Begum, is a ghost of her former self. Three days after the police brought her home in this village of Doda, she cannot stand on her feet. Her legs bear marks of brutal thrashing, her breasts branded with hot iron rods. Her hair is closely cropped, visible only between the bandage wrapped tightly across her nose and ears.
Mariam has been ``punished''for her brother Abdul Latif's decision to quit the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and surrender to the security forces, says her uncle. Frustrated with the militant outfit, Latif had surrendered on June 7. On June 16, militants stormed the Mehad Dhar where Mariam and her father, Mohammad Ibrahim, were taking a nap.
The militants took them to their hideout and over 25 days, tortured them for failing to stop Latif from surrendering. ``Everytime they hit me, they said, `You know the pika gun your brother handed over to security forces costs more than Rs 26 lakh. Unless you get that back we will continue inflicting wounds on you','' Mariam recalls.
A day before the police found her, one of the militants ran the tip of a knife from her neck to her stomach. ``Then, he suddenly he started cropping my hair with the knife. I was yet to recover from the pain they inflicted by chopping off my nose and ears,'' says Mariam.
Policemen found Mariam in Gandoh forest three days ago, beaten up and bleeding from her nose and ears. Her muffled sobs reached them when they were patrolling but the militants, Noor Mohammad alias Ansari, Bashir Ahmad and Dilawar, managed to flee. Her father returned a few days ago.
A month ago, Mariam's uncle worried if anybody would marry a militant's sister. Now, he can't stop crying on seeing her. ``With disfigured face, will Mariam ever get a match for herself?'' he says. Deputy Inspector General Satvir Gupta promises help for Mariam's treatment. ``For specialised treatment, we have decided to shift Mariam to Government Medical College (GMC) Hospital, Jammu,'' says Gupta. Mariam's uncle points out it is ironical it is the police they seek now.
Only months ago, the sight of khaki-clad
personnel would send shivers down their spine as they dreaded being picked
up to reveal Latif's whereabouts.
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