Yawar Ahmad Bhat, a class 10 student, from Pulwama's Chandgam hamlet, stepped out on September 16 to fetch some tubes. The villagers allege that his identity card was seized during a routine checking by the security forces before he was taken to an army camp. Bhat was released after some time, but he was allegedly beaten up and tortured by the security personnel at the camp. When Bhat returned home, he looked "lost", refused meals and spoke only to one of his five sisters, says his family.
Bhat had confided in his sister -- requesting her not to tell any other member of the family -- that he had been "tortured" and "beaten up" by the army. Abdul Hamid, Bhat's father, said that he hadn't stepped out of his room the entire next day and met his mother in her room, only in the evening. While Hamid prepared a glass of milk for his son, Bhat's sister, horrified, raised an alarm when she noticed his deteriorating health. Bhat might have consumed poison, she said.