2009 Shopian rape and murder case
| 2009 Shopian rape and murder hoax | |
|---|---|
| Location | Bongam, Shopian, Jammu and Kashmir, India |
| Date | 29 May 2009 |
Attack type | purported rape and murder, later determined to have been accidental deaths |
| Deaths | 2 |
In 2009, false allegations began circulating of the purported abduction, rape and murder of two young women – Asiya Jan and Neelofar Jan – allegedly by the Central Reserve Police Force of India. Between 29 and 30 May 2009, at Bongam, Shopian district, Jammu and Kashmir, the two women (sisters-in-law) had gone missing from their orchard on the way home on 29 May 2009. The next morning, their bodies were found both one kilometer apart. Local police concluded that the women appeared to have drowned in a stream, rejecting the allegations that their deaths were the result of criminal actions.
On 22 June 2023, the Jammu and Kashmir administration, invoking Article 311(2)(c) of the Constitution of India, terminated two doctors, Dr. Bilal Ahmad Dalal and Dr. Nighat Shaheen Chilloo, claiming the two were "actively working" with Pakistan-based groups and falsifying evidence in the case. According to officials, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) found that the deaths of Asiya Jan and Neelofar Jan on 29 May 2009, were due to accidental drowning, not rape or murder. The doctors allegedly manipulated the post-mortem report to frame security forces, aiming to incite disaffection against the Indian state. The CBI charge-sheeted them and 11 other people in December 2009 for "misleading the investigations and fabricating evidence about rape and murder".