After remaining in a “vegetative state” for 4 days, 55-year-old Jana Begum finally died at SMHS hospital here on Saturday.
Family members of the deceased woman told Greater Kashmir that she fell unconscious after forces raided her house at Nikas Aarbal in Pulwama district on Tuesday. Her daughter had also fainted when the raid was carried out, they added.
“The mother- daughter duo was immediately rushed to a nearby medical facility from where Jana was referred to Srinagar while her daughter Razia was discharged after she regained conscious,” family members said.
“For all these days she remained unconscious. Despite doctors putting in all the efforts she could not regain her consciousness. Finally she breathed her last this morning,” family members said.
Riyaz Ahmad Malla, son of Jana Begum said that on that fateful day his mother and sister were in the courtyard when forces personnel jumped over the compound wall of their house. “Both of them were so scared that they became unconscious,” he added.
As the body of Jana Begum reached her home, hundreds of mourners began trickling into her native village to participate in her last rites. Amid pro-freedom slogans, Jana Begum was laid to rest at her ancestral graveyard.
It may be recalled on Thursday scores of residents of the village had hit the streets and protested against the alleged harassments and frequent crackdowns by the forces.
Army’s Srinagar based spokesperson, Rajesh Kalia, however, had denied that forces had harassed anyone.