Girl succumbs to injuries, death toll rises to 87; Freedom rally foiled in Sopore, Shamyana set ablaze, property damaged

The preliminary cause of death was stated to be cardiac arrest.

A 19-year-old girl died of cardiac arrest in Shopian district during security forces action against stone-pelting protesters on Monday, taking the toll in the ongoing unrest in the Valley to 87, while a school building caught fire under mysterious circumstances in nearby Anantnag district. Khushboo, daughter of Mohammad Hussain, collapsed during the clashes between protesters and security forces at Vehil in Shopian district, a police official said.
He said the girl was taken to Shopian district hospital where doctors declared her “brought dead”. The preliminary cause of death was stated to be cardiac arrest, police said. With this death, the toll in the ongoing unrest in Kashmir since Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces on July 8, has risen to 87.
Meanwhile, Hanafia High School building in Lal Chowk area of Anantnag was damaged in a fire incident, police said. They said fire tenders have been rushed to the spot, adding the cause of fire was not known yet. No casualty has been reported in the incident so far, police said.

Meanwhile, forces on Monday foiled a proposed freedom rally at Panzipora, Sopore near Tarzoo in north Kashmir by setting ablaze the Shamyana erected at the venue and allegedly damaging dozens of motorbikes and vehicles.
Local sources told Kashmir Post that government forces reached the venue of the rally and set the Shamyana on fire. “Forces also burnt down at least 15 motorbikes and smashed the same number of vehicles parked in the area,” a local told Rising Kashmir over phone. He further alleged that government forces ransacked dozens of residential houses and fired on the local grid station resulting in damages to its transformers.
“Forces spread a reign of terror in the area which compelled locals to come on streets and held protests,” locals said.