- NEW DELHI (UPI) -- Suspected
Islamic rebels killed three young women in India's Kashmir region for not
wearing burqas, the head-to-toe veiled dress worn by Muslim women.
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- The killings came a day after handwritten posters appeared
in Rajouri district warning women that they would face consequences for
not wearing the veiled dress.
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- Unidentified gunmen barged into the house of Mohammad
Sadiq at Hasyote village in the Thanamandi area and shot dead his 21-year-old
daughter, Noureen Kousar.
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- The attackers then entered house of Khalil Ahmad in the
same village and kidnapped his 18-year-old daughter, Tahir Parveen. Her
beheaded body was found in jungles hours later.
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- Another young girl, Shehnaz Akhtar, was also shot in
the killing spree, United News of India reported.
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- Police have confiscated some posters pasted on the walls
of two senior secondary schools in Rajouri town on Dec. 16 ordering girl
students to wear burqas or face the consequences.
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- There have been previous cases of Islamic militants in
the area ordering women to wear veiled dresses. In one incident some years
ago, Islamic rebels threw acid on the face of one girl who didn't comply.
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- More than a dozen Islamic rebel groups are seeking independence
of Kashmir from Indian rule. More than 37,000 people have died in the 13-year-old
uprising.
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