4-yr-old yet to come out of shock, says militant slapped her

During the day long encounter in Jammu, the children who were held hostage were constantly threatened by the militants.

Held hostage along with her three siblings and mother for 19 hours, Kajal survived the ordeal but the trauma of seeing her neighbour being brutally gunned down by militants may remain etched in the mind of the four-year-old forever.

“Woh hamein marne ke liye bolte the aur chup karne ke liye thapad bhi martay the (They threatened to kill us and even slapped us, asking us to remain quiet),” the young girl said, her voice fumbling, as she was reunited with her father Billu Ram Bhagat, who was out of the house when the militants struck. “When they killed Kala Ram, I became very afraid,” she said.

Kala Ram, 24, was among the three hostages killed by the militants during the stand-off. As she tried to recount the shocking drama, Kajal’s brother Kumar, seven, was playing with the youngest, Vipin, who is just two-years-old. Their mother Sunita Devi, 35, who was shot at by the militants and wounded in the thigh, has been admitted to a hospital.

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Narrating the incident, Kajal’s sister Sheetal, 9, said the three man were wearing police uniforms.

“One of them was bleeding from his leg. They asked for milk and then huddled us in the kitchen. We locked ourselves in as we realised that they were militants but they broke the door and brought us out,” she said.

The militants then took the family to the basement. “The militants kept threatening us. They said they will kill us,” the child said.

“As we tried to convey to the security forces the whereabouts of the militants, they tried to break the door … but I resisted. They then opened fire,” Sunita said.

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Bhagat’s sister-in-law, Ritu, said: “we pleaded with them not to kill us and offered them belongings and cash. We asked them to spare as we have small children. They locked all of us, except my husband who they kept separately in a room.”

“I had lost all hope. My family has come out of jaws of death,” a relieved Bhagat said as he hugged his four shocked children after the stand off ended with the killing of three militants.

Tears rolled down Bhagat’s face as the children, with fear still writ large on their face, crowded around their father.

Bhagat, who had suffered a snake bite, had gone to a hospital for treatment and on returning found the house surrounded by security personnel.

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The Army’s Special Forces launched a final assault at 2345 hours on Wednesday night killing the three militants and rescued the seven hostages, including the four children, Bhagat’s brother and sister-in-law.

Their tenant Ashok Kumar, a teacher, and son of a Territorial Army battalion jawan Shyam Murari, who was chasing the militants, were killed by the ultras.