Aazan Manzoor
Srinagar, Jan 22 (JKNS): Nowshera has been plunged into shock, grief and deep anguish after a woman was brutally murdered inside her own home in broad daylight, a crime so savage that it has scarred the collective conscience of the locality and left her family irreparably broken.
Residents recall scenes of panic and uncontrollable crying as news of the killing spread. A close neighbour told news agency JKNS that he rushed to the house around 4 pm after hearing about the incident, only to witness chaos and disbelief.
“There was hue and cry everywhere. People were crying, screaming no one could believe such brutality had happened in our mohalla,” he said.
According to eyewitness accounts, the accused identified as a non-local helper first attacked the woman with a bat. After she fell unconscious, he allegedly slit her throat, killing her on the spot.
“It was not just murder, it was merciless,” the neighbour said, while appreciating the police for their swift action in arresting the accused within hours as he attempted to flee.
Adding to the tragedy is the heart-rending fact that the woman’s son, who was performing Umrah in Saudi Arabia, reportedly witnessed the horrifying murder live through CCTV cameras installed at the house and connected to his mobile phone.
“A son watched his mother being killed while he was thousands of kilometres away. That pain cannot be described,” the neighbour said, choking with emotion.
Shafat, the son-in-law of the deceased, recounted the moment his world collapsed. “Around 3 pm, I received a call telling me my mother-in-law had been murdered,” he said. Earlier in the day, he had sent his children to their grandmother’s house, unaware of the tragedy that was about to unfold.
“When I reached, she was lying in a pool of blood. Her forehead and throat were soaked, her throat had been slit,” he said, breaking down while narrating the scene. He added that as he tried to contact the police, a police party from Soura reached the spot, possibly alerted by neighbours.
Shafat further said the accused had taken away the victim’s mobile phone while fleeing, which later proved crucial in tracing and arresting him. The family, which runs a shop at Lal Chowk, was also alerted when neighbours informed the victim’s husband that someone had been knocking at the door for a long time without any response.
According to the family, the murder is believed to have occurred shortly after 1 pm, though information reached them around 3 pm. “Till about 11 am, she was in touch with my wife. After lunch, everything changed forever,” Shafat said.
The brutal killing has left the family shattered and the entire neighbourhood in mourning. As fear, anger and sorrow grip Nowshera, residents and relatives alike are demanding strict punishment for the accused, saying justice must not only be done, but be seen to be done, for a life lost in the most horrifying manner.
As reported earlier, a 65-year-old woman was found dead with her throat slit inside her house in the Mud Bagh area of Nowshera, Srinagar.
Officials initially suspected the involvement of her domestic helper, who has gone missing since the incident.
An official told earlier told JKNS that the deceased has been identified as Rashida Begum, wife of Lateef Ahmad Gangoo, a resident of Mud Bagh, Nowshera. “After receiving the information, police from Soura station reached the spot and took the body into custody for medico-legal formalities at SKIMS, Soura,” the official said.
Preliminary findings indicate that the woman’s domestic servant, reportedly from Assam, may have committed the murder before fleeing.
An official this evening told JKNS that the accused domestic help was later arrested after a manhunt was launched to nab him. —(JKNS)
