The mystery surrounding the death of two young women in Shopian in May has cleared with the Central Bureau of Investigation concluding that Nelofar, 22, and her sister-in-law Asiya Jan, 17, died of drowning.
Also, the two were neither raped nor murdered, the premier investigating agency has concluded through scientific evidence.
After exhuming the bodies on September 28, doctors and forensic experts told the CBI that Asiya was not raped.
Her hymen was intact and so were the other parts, which would have got disturbed in the event of a rape.
The CBI took over the investigations in September. Through bone marrow tests and other examinations, the doctors established that the bodies had absorbed river water.
“Each river has its own water characteristics, and in the case of these two women, the chemicals contained in the water of Ramibar River were found in their bodies,” said an official on condition of anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media.
Hundreds of people took to the streets in Shopian town, some 50 km south of Srinagar, after the deaths.
{{/usCountry}}Hundreds of people took to the streets in Shopian town, some 50 km south of Srinagar, after the deaths.
{{/usCountry}}The state government ordered a number of probes, before the CBI took over the case, on September 17.
Four police officers from Shopian, including Senior Superintendent of Police Javed Mattoo, were suspended.
Facts about the cause of the death, as investigated and concluded by the CBI, began tumbling out after the agency interrogated the doctors, one of whom confessed not having collected the samples of the vaginal swabs of Nelofar and Asiya.
Dr Nighat Chiloo of Pulwama district hospital passed off her own swab samples as Asiya’s, instead.
Forensic tests of the DNA samples of the doctor matched those she had sent. This has established that the rape charge was fabricated.
The CBI, along with the doctors and forensic experts, will submit its report to the Jammu and Kashmir High Court on December 14.
Asiya and her sister- in-law Nelofar went missing on May 29.
Their bodies were found the next day in the Ramibar stream in Shopian, 50 km from Srinagar.