Abstract
In 1947 at the height of rioting in the Punjab hapless women were subjected to various forms of gendered and sexual violence. Sikh and Hindu women in the Rawalpindi Division also experienced multiple atrocities of which abduction was perhaps the most ignoble. Due to their perception as symbols of honour and pride of the “other” community which was under attack, women constituted vulnerable targets. Thus, their abduction meant defiling the entire community. In addition to representing the honour of the community, women were also considered to be mere “sexual objects” to be possessed when social and cultural boundaries broke down during the chaos. The orgy of violence against women started in March and it became severe later in August when the Partition took place. Muslim aggressors abducted Sikh and Hindu women shamelessly amid attacks on non-Muslims during the turmoil that brought the virtual collapse of the state machinery. A number of women were kidnapped after the male population had been killed or injured during raids on villages, towns, or inadequately protected trains carrying refugees. The non-Muslim abducted women were either relocated to another place to avoid capture or dissuaded from returning to their family by propaganda. The abduction and subsequent abuses caused the women physical, mental, and psychological agony, thereby, making them the primary victims of violence.
Keyword(s)
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