In late October 1947, tribesmen backed by Pakistan Army invaded the town of Baramulla in Kashmir. After overrunning Muzaffarabad & Uri, these tribesmen entered Baramulla around 25-26 October. What followed for the next 13 days became one of the darkest episodes in the history. Baramulla was then a peaceful trading town of about 14,000 people. The tribesmen backed by Pakistan did not simply pass through on their way to Srinagar. They stopped & turned the town into a scene of terror on eve of 26 Oct 1947. Houses & shops were looted & burned. Men, women & children were killed. The worst horror was the widespread rape of women.
Survivors & contemporary reports state that the tribesmen backed by Pakistan raped / gang-raped young women of every community – Hindu, Sikh, Muslim & Christian. Others were abducted & taken away as captives. Groups of women were locked inside houses & assaulted. Some jumped from upper floors of buildings to escape the attackers. One account records that the raiders “committed rape on every young woman” they could find.
Even the St. Joseph’s Mission Hospital & Convent was attacked. The tribesmen killed patients, nurses & missionaries & assaulted the women present. Among the dead were British officer Lt. Col. Tom Dykes, his pregnant wife & several nuns. The Dykes’ infant child was thrown into a well. More than seventy people, including children, were held captive.
When Indian troops entered Baramulla in early November, the town was almost empty. Only about 1,000 residents remained. Thousands had fled. Many others were dead or missing. Foreign journalists described a place stripped of its wealth & its young women. Trucks loaded with loot & captive women had already left for Pakistan.
The sexual violence was so widespread that it delayed the tribesmen backed by Pakistan themselves. Instead of advancing quickly to Srinagar, large numbers stayed in Baramulla to loot & rape. This pause gave Indian forces the critical time needed to land troops & save the capital.
Seventy-nine years later, the Rape of Baramulla stands as a painful reminder of the human cost of the 1947 invasion. The tribesmen backed by Pakistan did not only fight a military campaign. They carried out a campaign of terror in which ordinary Kashmiri women of all faiths suffered rape, abduction & lifelong trauma. Their suffering must never be forgotten.
