Contents
Girija Tickoo was an Indian librarian, who was killed during the 1990s exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the valley of Kashmir.
Wiki/Biography
Girija Tickoo was born on Saturday, 15 February 1969 (age 21 years; at the time of death) in Arigam, Bandipora, Jammu and Kashmir. Her zodiac sign is Aquarius.
Physical Appearance
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Brown
Family
She was born in a Kashmiri Pandit family.
Parents & Siblings
Her brother’s name is Satish Raina.
Girija Tickoo with her family
Girija Tickoo’s brother and his family
Husband & Children
She was married to Girdhari Lal Tickoo, who was from Bandipora district in Jammu and Kashmir. As per media sources, at the time of death, she had two children (one son and one daughter).
Brutal Rape and Murder
According to some media sources, in the 1980s, Girija was working as a lab assistant in Government Girls High School in Trehgam, Jammu and Kashmir.
A snippet from a book about Girija Tickoo’s profession
Whereas as per her niece’s Instagram post, she was a librarian at a University in Jammu and Kashmir. Later, when the militants threatened the Kashmiri Pandits to leave Kashmir, Girija and her family moved to Jammu. In June 1990, she got a call from a colleague that the situation of Kashmir had improved, and she could receive her paycheck from the school where she was working. She then went to the school to receive her salary, and while she was returning from there, she was kidnapped by five men (Jihadi militants) including one of her colleagues. She was then brutally gang-raped by those men in a taxi, and then her body was cut into half under the carpenter’s saw. As per media sources, her body was cut into pieces with a saw when she was still alive. She was killed on 25 June 1990, and her body was found on a roadside. In an Instagram post, her niece shared the incident. She wrote,
My father’s sister, Girjia Tickoo, was a librarian at a University who had gone to collect her paycheck, on her way back the bus she was traveling from was stopped and what happened next still leaves me in shivers, tears, and nausea. My bua was then thrown into a taxi, with 5 men (one of them being her colleague), who tortured her, raped her, and then brutally murdered her by cutting her alive with a carpenter saw. Imagine being the brother who had to recognize his Babli, who wasn’t at fault in this gruesome battle of total hypocrisy. Till this date I’ve never heard anyone from my family speak about this incident.”
She added,
My father tells me every brother lived in such shame and anger that they nothing had been done to receive justice for my Babli Bua. I am fortunate enough to be part of @KOAYouth @KOAorg where I am connected to youth from the Kashmiri Pandit community where we can share our past. This is my plead to ALL of you to watch the Kashmir Files and take your friends and family with you.”
After a few years, Girija Tickoo’s family moved to the US. Later, it was found that many other women were tortured in the same way by the militants.
Facts/Trivia
- Her family and friends used to call her Babli.
- In 2022, the Hindi film ‘The Kashmir Files’ was released in which Girija’s story was portrayed by the Indian actor Bhasha Sumbli under the character name ‘Sharda Pandit.’
A still of Bhasha Sumbli from the film The Kashmir Files