Uri, May 09 (KNO): A dream wedding turned into a nightmare for a family in the border town of Uri, where fresh cross-border shelling killed a 40-year-old woman, Nargis Begum, just a month before her daughter’s scheduled marriage.
Begum, wife of Basheer Khan and mother of six, as per details obtained by the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), was killed when a mortar shell fired from across the Line of Control (LoC) struck their vehicle just a few metres away from their home.
The Razarwani family was en route to Baramulla to seek safety as shelling began in the area around 8 pm, the victim's brother Mohammad Aslam said, adding the ten-member family had packed into the vehicle, hoping to escape the escalating violence. Instead, they were caught in its deadliest moment.
In a heart-wrenching account, Nargis’s daughter, Sanam (26), recounted the moment the shell hit. “We were just trying to get away… to be safe,” she said, her voice trembling.
“The shell fell right on our vehicle — there was fire, screams… and then silence. “I thought my mother was crying because it had hit my aunt… but I didn’t realise it had struck her. She looked at me—without saying a word—and died right there. My clothes were soaked in her blood.”
"What had she done? What was her crime? She was just a mother trying to protect her children. Bring back my mother… someone, please bring her back.”
The attack, part of fresh ceasefire violations by Pakistani forces, has reignited fears in several villages along the LoC. While several residents were evacuated to government shelters by the administration.
Nargis Begum was buried in her native village as hundreds gathered in grief. Women beat their chests and cried aloud.
Meanwhile, the would-be bride was seen silently in a corner of their modest home, her tear-streaked face buried in the folds of her mother’s shawl — the room that was once filled with laughter, wedding preparations, and the rustle of new clothes now echoed with sobs and silence—(KNO)