The teenager's sister placed his uniform on the body when it was brought back to the village
The death of a Class 9 student has led to massive protests in south Kashmir's Shopian. 15-year-old Umar Kumar was killed in firing by security forces on Wednesday evening after clashes in the area. There is also anger against destruction of residential houses during a security operation.
As the body of teenager was taken to his home at Pinjoora, Umar Kumar's grieving sister came out with his school uniform and placed it on the body. Hundreds of women and men had come to attend the funeral. Locals say Umar's father had died two years ago and he was an orphan.
The ruling PDP said the death of Umar and other civilian killings is defeating the purpose of democracy in Kashmir.
"It will only prove counter-productive and further deviate and distance youth of Kashmir from the mainland. In no way, a civilian killing is accepted or can be justified," said PDP leader Waheed Parra.
Clashes broke out in several villages in the area after reports of an encounter in Shopian's Turkwangan village on Wednesday. As troops from various camps moved towards the village, locals clashed with them.
Police sources say there was a brief exchange of firing after terrorists fired at army vehicles patrolling in the area. Even as the gunmen managed to escape, troops assumed that the attackers have taken shelter in residential houses at Turkwagan village, sources said.
During the operation, two residential houses and three cowsheds were destroyed. But after searches, nothing was found.
A senior police officer told NDTV there were no terrorists trapped inside any residential houses when the operation was launched.
"After exchange of firing, troops presumed that fleeing terrorists have taken shelter in a residential house at Turkwangan. That's why they launched the operation," said the officer.
He said they immediately informed all security formations to withdraw since no terrorists were holed up in these houses.
Shopian and Pulwama districts are on edge for the last three days after the killing of a local Hizbul commander during an encounter with security forces. There were clashes and protests at several places.
On Wednesday, stone throwers targeted a school bus in the area and a student was injured after a stone hit him on the head. Doctors say the injured child is now stable. The incident caused widespread outrage and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti promised to punish the culprits.