A shocking incident has rocked the Kashmir Valley during the holy month of Ramzan. A 3-year-old girl was raped by a 20-year-old neighbour at Malikpora village in the Tregam area of Sumbal, North Kashmir on Friday.

The girl was admitted to the hospital and her condition is still critical. It is unbelievable that a local welfare trust named Islamic Educational Trust has come to the rescue of the rapist, Tahir Ashraf Mir, by calling him a minor.

A certificate issued by the institute that has gone viral on social media which refers to Tahir as a minor who studied there till 2017 and was born in July 2009.

The protests seeking the death penalty to the rapist have gathered momentum in the Valley after a local cleric had broken the news of the shocking rape incident at a mosque in North Kashmir. The Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar Shahid Choudary has expressed shock over the letter that was issued for defending the rapist.

"Only in this part of the world, a Principal, not being a competent authority goes beyond the law to "save a rape accused". Shame!, " he tweeted.

Shah Faesal, former IAS officer turned political leader said, "Nothing should stop @bandiporapolice from sending the Trigam rapist to gallows. The birth certificate of the culprit, I am told, is fake. It has no value. Treat him as an adult and hang him. Entire Kashmir is with you @rmalikjk."

The J&K Police has arrested the accused rapist, Tahir who is stated to be a paedophile and may have abused many local minor girls. The residents of Malikpora village staged a demonstration at Srinagar demanding the culprit to be hanged.

"This is the state of our affairs today. If this can happen to a 3-year-old girl, it could happen to anyone. Lots of influential people are trying to save the rapist. But we will not rest till he is brought to book. He is not a minor but a grown-up adult who has been accused of harassing minor girls in the village. We will sit on the road until the authorities take action. The police have assured us of action, but we cannot rely on them anymore," the women from Bandipora protesting in Srinagar told the reporters.

The incident has occurred barely a year after an 8-year-old girl belonging to a nomadic Bakarwal community in Jammu's Kathua district was gang-raped, drugged and murdered by the acquaintances of a local temple priest and policemen, which shocked the entire country.

Although the Indian government has passed an ordinance calling for the death penalty to the rapists, the sluggish legal process for the delivery of justice to the rape victims often acts as a hindrance. Despite oft-repeated demands of introducing fast track courts in such cases, the successive governments have done little to help deliver justice to the victims.