KULGAM: Massive protests broke out in Bugam village of Kulgam district in south Kashmir on Wednesday against the alleged molestation of a seven-year-old girl by her relative.
At least nine people have been wounded in clashes between angry youth and the police.
Residents have alleged that paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force and policemen later went on a rampage in the area and smashed window panes of scores of houses and vehicles.
Police say they have arrested the accused, a resident of the same village as that of the girl. The girl was reportedly coaxed by the man to a field near her home, where he allegedly tried to rape her.
Medical tests confirmed that no rape took place, sources told FreePress.
It was not clear how the girl escaped from the fields, but news spread after she narrated her ordeal before her parents. Soon protestors blocked the Bugam-Yaripora road, demanding immediate arrest of the culprit.
“Police raided the house of the culprit, but he had fled. We arrested his brother and released him after the accused surrendered before us,” a police officer, who did not wish to be named, told a local news agency, CNS.
The police used force when the protestors tried to proceed towards the main Kulgam town. Angry youth threw stones at the police who fired tear smoke shells to disperse them.
Six policemen are among the nine people wounded.
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