23rd February 2025 marks the 34th anniversary of the mass rape and torture of Kashmiri women by the Indian Army in the twin villages of Kunan and Poshpora in the Kupwara district of Kashmir.
The largest recorded incident of sexual assault in South Asian history stands as a chilling example of the political and judicial impunity enjoyed by the Indian Armed Forces in the Kashmir Valley under the facade of Indian democracy, argue many scholars and rights activists working in Kashmir.
According to accounts from villagers, soldiers from the 4th Rajputana Rifles of the Indian Army, part of the 68th Brigade, cordoned off the villages during a late-night “cordon-and-search” operation, a common military tactic in the early 1990s to counter rising militancy in Kashmir. The men of the villages were ordered to assemble outside—where they were allegedly interrogated and tortured—while the women remained indoors. Villagers claim that during this time, soldiers entered homes and raped numerous women, with estimates of victims ranging widely. The initial First Information Report (FIR), filed after a visit by the local magistrate, documented 23 women reporting rape, but human rights organizations, including Human Rights Watch, have suggested the number could be as high as 100.
Survivors have recounted brutal assaults, with some alleging gang rapes by multiple soldiers, affecting women of all ages—from young girls to elderly women, including those who were pregnant.
The Indian Army and government have consistently denied these allegations, labeling them as baseless and part of “terrorist propaganda” aimed at discrediting the military.
Every year since 2014, 23rd February has been commemorated as Kashmiri Women’s Resistance Day, inspired by the struggles of the survivors of the mass rape and torture in Kunan and Poshpora on the night of 23rd February 1990.
The three-decade-long struggle of the survivors from Kunan and Poshpora is part of the larger ongoing struggle in Jammu and Kashmir against the institutionalized and structural violence of the authorities in the region.
The Union of India filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court of India in 2014, challenging the interim orders of the J&K High Court to pay compensation to the victims and the Kupwara District Court’s order for reinvestigation of the case. The judiciary stayed both the reinvestigation and the payment of compensation. Even the order passed by the State Human Rights Commission (SHRC), which also recommended reinvestigation and compensation, was stayed by the High Court.
There are five petitions regarding the Kunan Poshpora case pending before the High Court and the Supreme Court of India since 2014, three of which have been filed by the Indian Army. Justice has been denied to the victims to date, and the matter remains stuck between the two courts. In the process, six survivors and witnesses have already died.
It seems unlikely that the Kunan Poshpora victims will receive justice within their lifetimes, as the investigation has been stayed, and even if it proceeds, the sanction for prosecution remains an issue before the Indian Defence Ministry, which has not granted approval for a single case so far.
The Kunan Poshpora mass rape and torture case was reported widely by more than 300 human rights organizations and journalists around the world. Despite this, justice continues to be a mirage for the victims.
