Kupwara: The parents of eight-year-old Uzma do not believe that their daughter would ever return now.
Although their neighbours try to console them, they are constantly asking about their murdered daughter.
Talking to Greater Kashmir, Uzma’s mother said, “Ten minutes before Iftar time, my husband, who is a driver, left home to drop a patient at a nearby hospital. Uzma who was in the courtyard persisted to accompany him but he did not take her along. Uzma then demanded Rs 5 from him to buy some candies. As her father was in a hurry, he gave her Rs 10 and left.”
Uzma’s mother said that after Iftaar when Uzma didn’t return home, she became anxious.
“After his father reached home, we both started to look out for her and went to his uncle’s home believing that she might be there. We also searched her at the houses of nearby neighbours but to no avail,” she said.
“Our neighbours later made an announcement on Masjid loudspeaker seeking to know her whereabouts. However, we could not trace her. Her father and a few neighbours went to the nearby police station to file the missing report. They would have hardly reached the police station when I looked for her in the nearby shed. As soon as I put my foot inside, I found her lying on the ground. I started screaming and tried to wake her up but one of the neighbours saw blood around her neck. They intimated my husband who along with a team of Police team arrived at the scene,” Uzma’s mother said.
“We have never harmed anyone, nor did we have animosity with anyone. Then why was my innocent child killed mercilessly,” she said.
Meanwhile, Police after conducting the medico-legal formalities handed over the body of the child to family members following which her last rites were performed on Thursday.
Thousands of people participated in her Namaz-e-Janaza.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Kupwara Yougal Manhas visited the victim's village ‘Zab Khurhama’ along with other senior Police officers.
They also visited the crime spot.
Later, the SSP while talking to reporters said that Police took cognisance of the matter.
He assured that the killer would be soon brought to justice.
However, he sought help from the locals in the Police investigation.
The locals demanded exemplary punishment of those involved in the murder.
