Omar Abdullah visits family of 11-year-old killed by terrorists

Taking time out from electioneering, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah Tuesday visited the Mir family in militancy-torn Bandipore of north Kashmir whose 11-year-old son was held hostage and subsequently killed by terrorists.

Omar, who is also the vice president of the National Conference, was in Baramulla when he decided to visit Hajin area of Bandipore and offer his condolences to the Mir family who is mourning the death of Atif Mir.

"Returning just now from Hajin where I had gone to condole the death of young Atif. Atif was an 11 year old boy, the only son of his parents, killed after he was taken hostage by militants last week," Omar wrote on Twitter after the meeting.

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"There can be nothing worse for a father than to lend a shoulder to his young child's coffin and nothing worse for a mother than to grieve at her young child's grave. Kashmir has seen too much of this suffering heaped on parents," he said.

"It was a heart-wrenching scene. It will take them a lot of time to overcome this grief. The parents and two elder sisters could not be consoled," Omar told PTI after his meeting.

The boy was killed by Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists -- Ali and Hubaib -- on March 22 after the family refused to get their daughter married to one of them.

The killing evoked sharp reactions from locals who said it was not "jihad" (armed crusade) but "jahalat" (benighted).

The incident took place 33 km north of Srinagar where the terrorists had taken shelter in the boy's house at gunpoint, police officials said on Friday.

The terrorists wanted to sexually abuse his sister but the family helped her escape. This infuriated them and they started beating up the family members, including Atif and his old uncle Hameed Mir, they said. 

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Hameed told police he requested the terrorists to release the boy but they were barbaric.

As pressure mounted on the terrorists, they killed the helpless Atif. The security forces later mounted a heightened operation and killed both the Pakistanis.

Ali had been active in the area for long and was involved in many killings including the death of a man whose throat was slit in front of his son.