Kashmiris defy ban on protests

SRINAGAR (AFP/Reuters) - Fifty people were hurt Friday after thousands of angry Kashmiris defied a protest ban and clashed with police during demonstrations in Occupied Kashmir over the alleged rape and murder of two women.
The demonstrations, during which protesters chanted anti-India slogans, were held outside several mosques in Srinagar after Friday prayers.
Protests were also held in Shopian, the women’s hometown, and other towns across the valley, police and witnesses said.
Anger over the alleged killings has effectively shut down much of the Kashmir Valley, including Srinagar, over the past week, with a strike called by Kashmiri Hurriyat groups closing most shops, schools and offices. Police are investigating the deaths of the 17-year-old woman and her 22-year-old sister-in-law.
Police fired teargas and swung batons to disperse the protesters, who retaliated by hurling stones and bricks. The clashes left over 50 people injured across the valley, doctors and police said.
In Srinagar, police detained Yasin Malik, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front after he led the demonstration to protest the alleged rape and murder of two Muslim women.
“Malik was detained for precautionary measures,” M Ashraf, a police officer said.
In an attempt to curb the daily protests, which have so far claimed one life and left 300 injured, the authorities have issued a ban on demonstrations.