Members of the Gujjar and Bakarwal communities organised a protest in the Kashmir Valley on Saturday demanding the release of rape accused Talib Hussain, the man shot to prominence after leading demonstrations seeking justice in the alleged rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district.

According to reports in leading Kashmiri newspapers, including the Greater Kashmir and the Kashmir Observer, the protesters demanded his release from police custody saying he was being beaten and tortured.

Hussain was arrested on the charge of raping a married woman in the Majalta forest area in Udhampur district earlier this month.

“He (Talib) was arrested from the Tral area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir on Tuesday and brought to Samba following a written complaint of a married woman who has accused him of raping her in a jungle about one and a half months ago,” a police officer was quoted as saying after his arrest.

In her complaint, the woman alleged that Hussain, armed with a knife, intercepted her when she had gone to the forest to graze cattle. She revealed that Hussain had threatened her to remain silent on the issue.

Last month, Hussain’s wife Nusrat Begum had filed a First Information Report against him alleging he had subjected her to physical torture and abuse for dowry. Following his wife’s complaint, Hussain was booked under various provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code, including domestic violence, dowry demand, threatening to divorce his wife and making an attempt to murder her.

Hussain was recently seen in a popular picture with Deepika Singh Rajawat, the lawyer of the Kathua victim’s family. The picture went viral on social media. He also appeared in a National Herald interview along with Rajawat.