The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) on Thursday asked its Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) to inquire into 639 cases of disappearance in Jammu and Kashmir and submit a report in three months.
Of these cases, 132 are alleged to have occurred in Banihal Tehsil of Ramban district and 507 in Baramulla and Bandipora districts.
Tahira Begum, spokesperson of the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), said: “The order is a milestone in the struggle of the APDP to find out the truth about the disappeared and to ensure justice for each and every person subject to enforced disappearance.”
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On December 10, 2011, the APDP submitted a complaint of 132 cases of disappearance in different villages of Banihal Tehsil. However, officials admitted that only 112 persons had gone “missing.”
The inquiry would enable the families place on record the circumstances of the disappearance of their loved ones and the government’s refusal to ensure justice, Ms. Begum said. For 24 years, the APDP has been campaigning against enforced or involuntary disappearances in the State.