New twist to Shopian case: Aasiya wasn't raped

How did Niloufer and her sister-in-law,Aasiya, die? Were they raped? Not according to the latest investigations intowhat is called the Shopian case.

The CBI exhumed the bodies of the two womenon Monday and forensic experts have ruled that there is no conclusive evidencethat Aasiya was raped. Her hymen and septum have been found intact, medicalevidence that there was no penetration. This contradicts the findings of anearlier post-mortem.

In May, 22-year-old Niloufer and17-year-old Aasiya were found dead in a shallow stream in Kashmir's Shopiandistrict, about 50 kilometres from Srinagar. The police first said the womenhad drowned. Villagers in the area declared the women had been raped by armyofficers and began violent protests, some of the worst the state has seen.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah ordered ajudicial inquiry, which concluded that the two women had been raped and killed.The case was handed over to the CBI last week. The bodies were exhumed by theagency after a doctor confessed that she had never taken vaginal swabs of thetwo women. Frightened by local protests, she said, she passed off other samplesas Niloufer's and Aasiya's.

Forensic sources say that it will take themat least a fortnight to figure out the cause of death. Keeping the sensitivityof the case in mind, CBI ensured that religious clerics, two female doctors andmagistrates were present when the two bodies were exhumed. To win the trust ofvillagers in the area, the bodies were studied on location. The findings werethen shared with them, and villagers have testified to NDTV that they aresatisfied with the way CBI carried out the tests.