India has sentenced seven soldiers to life imprisonment for the murder of three youths in Indian-administered Kashmir four years ago.
The seven soldiers, including two officers, were found guilty of luring the three young men from their homes, promising jobs and money, before murdering them. The soldiers then claimed that the men were Pakistani militants who they had killed in an encounter.
Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah applauded the sentencing, calling it a "watershed moment" in Kashmir's history.
Abdullah tweeted,
The seven soldiers, including two officers, were found guilty of luring the three young men from their homes, promising jobs and money, before murdering them. The soldiers then claimed that the men were Pakistani militants who they had killed in an encounter.
Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir Omar Abdullah applauded the sentencing, calling it a "watershed moment" in Kashmir's history.
Abdullah tweeted,
"No one in Kashmir ever believed that justice would be done in such cases. Faith in institutions disappeared... let this serve as a warning to those tempted to try.”The sentence was also welcomed by Amnesty International, with Amnesty India programmes director Shailesh Rai commenting,
“For justice to be the rule and not the exception, all cases of human rights violations should be investigated and prosecuted by independent civilian authorities.”However, the families of the murdered man have called for capital punishment, with the mother of one of the victims telling The Hindu,
“It was not that they killed my son in anger or by mistake but they murdered him according to a plan and they used their powers and their guns to kill our children. If that does not deserve the murderers to be hanged then what does?”