Woman army officer commits suicide in Indian-controlled Kashmir

A woman army officer posted in restive Indian-controlled Kashmir has allegedly committed suicide by shooting herself, police said Friday.

The officer in Indian army was found dead at her official residence in Bari-Brahmana cantonment in outskirts of Jammu city, the winter capital of Indian-controlled Kashmir.

"Prima-facie it appears to be a suicide as the room was bolted from inside," a police official said. "A gunshot wound was found on her right temple and we recovered a pistol from the crime scene."

Reports said a case has been registered in this regard and a court of inquiry has been ordered by army into the incident.

Indian troops stationed in Indian-controlled Kashmir battling armed insurgency are reported to be under a lot of stress and strain.

During the past more than two decades several incidents of suicide and fratricide among the stationed troops were reported.

Health experts say continued separation from family, long duty hours, lack of recreational facilities, poor command and control structure were reasons usually found to be behind such incidents.

A guerrilla war is also going on between militants and Indian troops stationed in the restive region since 1989. The gun fighting between militants and Indian troops in Indian-controlled Kashmir takes place intermittently.

Indian-controlled Kashmir is considered as the highest militarized region. Officially India does not reveal the actual number of its troops deployed in the troubled region. However, rights activists say there are over 700,000 Indian troops and paramilitary troops in the region fighting an anti-India insurgency. Endit