Former J&K Women and Child Rights Chairperson demands swift justice in Budgam minor’s rape, murder case
KINS Desk
Srinagar, May 26 (KINS): Former Chairperson of the Jammu and Kashmir State Commission for Protection of Women and Child Rights, Vasundhara Pathak Masoodi, on Tuesday expressed deep anguish and outrage over the alleged rape and murder of a minor girl in central Kashmir’s Budgam district, terming the incident a “catastrophic failure of societal protection, morality and religious values.”
In a press statement, Masoodi said the brutal killing of the young girl was not merely a crime against an innocent child but “a direct assault on the fundamental human right to life and safety of minor children, girls and women.”
“My heart bleeds with grief that words can barely hold for the innocent soul stolen from us in Budgam — a child of this soil whose loss is a permanent stain on our collective conscience,” she said.
Masoodi said the increasing menace of alcoholism and narcotics was eroding the moral fabric of society and contributing to rising crimes against women and children.
“The rampant rise of alcoholism and unchecked narcotics act as a moral cancer that strips away a man’s soul, drowns out the voice of conscience, and turns human beings into unfeeling monsters capable of unspeakable depravity,” she said.
Calling for strong and coordinated societal action, the former commission chairperson said relying solely on law enforcement agencies after the commission of crimes cannot serve as a permanent solution to such “gruesome and ghastly acts.”
“We as a society must wake up to this increasingly dangerous level of horrendous crimes. We must fight in a collective and well-coordinated manner to protect our girls and women and banish this evil before it consumes another innocent life,” she added.
Masoodi urged the government and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case to ensure a time-bound investigation and file a “water-tight charge sheet” for swift prosecution of the accused.
She also called for exemplary punishment for those involved in the crime and demanded aggressive measures to dismantle drug networks and curb substance abuse across the region.
“While the government must ruthlessly tear down drug networks and courts must deliver swift and exemplary justice commensurate with the brutality of the crime, it must simultaneously confront the root causes of this growing societal rot through concrete crackdowns on substance and alcohol abuse,” she said. (KINS)
