SOPORE, Kashmir — Four men carrying pistols and wearing black masks knocked a week ago on the Hamidullah family’s gate. Furious that the wealthy apple traders had violated their ban on doing business, the militants announced that there was a price to pay.

They took three men into a sitting room in this Kashmiri town and shot them in the leg, right below their knees.

When 5-year-old Asma Jaan heard her father scream, she ran into the room to see what was wrong. The militants shot her, too. Now, confused and in pain, she lies bandaged up in a hospital bed and may not be able to walk for months.

“This has never happened before, that they hit out at a 5-year-old so mercilessly,” said her distraught aunt Nighat.