"Head Hangs In Shame": Mehbooba Mufti On Tourist Death In Stone-Throwing

Srinagar: A tourist from Tamil Nadu injured in stone-throwing in Kashmir has died, police said. The incident took place on Monday morning at Narbal on the outskirts of capital Srinagar. He had been moved to a hospital at around 10:30 am with serious injuries. He slipped into a coma and died at around 8:30 pm.

The tourist was identified as 22-year-old R Thirumani who had come to Kashmir from Chennai and was part of a group that was headed to Gulmarg. The Jammu and Kashmir police said the tourist vehicle that he sitting in was attacked by stone-throwers during clashes. One of the stones hit Mr Thirumani on the head. A 19-year-old local girl was also injured.

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti went to the police hospital in Srinagar after she was informed of Mr Thirumani's death. She met the parents of the man.

"My head hangs in shame. It is very sad and heartbreaking," she was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Opposition leader Omar Abdullah tweeted, "We've killed a tourist by throwing stones at the vehicle he was travelling in. Let's try and wrap our heads around the fact that we stoned a tourist, a guest, to death while we glorify these stone pelters & their methods."

Last week, a child was injured when stone-throwers hurled stones at a school bus in Shopian in south Kashmir. There were more than 50 children on the bus, including four-year-old nursery students of a private school.

Despite frequent clashes with security forces, protesters in Kashmir have generally not been known to target tourists. The attack on the school bus and the tourist's death have serious consequences for the state, heavily reliant on tourism for its revenue.

Jammu and Kashmir has been trying to revive its tourism sector following a spate of violent clashes that broke out two years ago after the killing of terrorist Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces.