Mysterious ‘braid choppers’ terrorize India
SRINAGAR, KASHMIR — Shaqeela Sajad was sweeping the front porch this month when a masked man dressed in black forced a handkerchief over her nose and attacked her.
“When I opened my eyes in the hospital, I found my braid had been hacked,” said Sajad, 24, who is pregnant with her first child, from her home in Srinagar in India-administered Kashmir.
These unknown “braid choppers” are creating a new type of terror in the hamlets and towns of the Himalayan Kashmir region, which has witnessed much bloodshed over the past three decades from a territorial conflict between India and Pakistan.
The new fear stems from an assailant or band of attackers who are drug-
ging young women and chopping off their braids for reasons no one can explain with certainty. Most women here have braided hair under their head coverings, so all are potential victims, and they are fearful.
In the past six weeks, more than 200 “braid chopping” incidents were reported, according to local police.
The attackers storm homes or take down lone women in markets and alleys before cutting their hair. The tied bundle of hair is usually found at the scene.
This is a highly conservative, Muslim-majority region, where women view cutting their hair or displaying it publicly as dishonorable. Most women cover their heads with scarves. Also, it’s taboo for a man who is not related to touch a woman.
The incidents are so alarming that the regional government announced a bounty of $9,000 for information on the attackers. Police have no leads.
Protesters say the government is not doing enough. Strikes and protests across Kashmir resulted in violence after demonstrators threw stones at Indian troops, who fired back with tear gas and pellets.
“The situation is worrying,” said Syed Naeem Akhtar Andrabi, a provincial lawmaker in the local council.
The region’s top police official, Shesh Paul Vaid, said special teams have been dispatched to all the districts, but police need the victims’ cooperation. Police here are not trusted, however, and some women have re- fused to cooperate after hearing that other victims who reported their attacks were simply told they were hallucinating.
The braid terror is causing some women to become depressed. Others say they try to avoid being alone or going out, or they are leaving to stay with relatives.
“I’ve not been able to sleep properly since the attack,” said Nazia Ibrahim, 28, who was attacked Oct. 4 at her home in Srinagar. She left to stay with family.
The braid attacks have raised concerns that they are related to rebels fighting Indian troops since 1989 for independence or a merger with Pakistan.
Some pro-independence leaders accuse the Indian government of orchestrating the attacks to divert attention from the resistance. They say the attacks recall assaults by masked men in the 1990s against residents providing shelter to the rebels.
To fight back, vigilantes have hit the streets, sometimes attacking innocent residents mistaken as braid choppers.
Junaid Rather, 27, a local journalist who saw an intruder in the garden of his house in Srinagar, said, “Anger is leading to anarchy.”