Woman injured in Pak shelling dies in Jammu hospital

A 55-year-old woman, critically injured in Pakistani shelling along the International Border, today succumbed to her injuries at a government hospital in Jammu after battling for life for 16 days, officials said, taking the number of people dead in the cross-border firing this year to 47.

Darshana Devi, a resident of Arnia village near the International Border, was admitted to the Government Medical College hospital on May 21 and breathed her last this afternoon, a police official said.

The medical superintendent of the hospital, Dara Singh, said despite their efforts, Devi could not be saved.

"She was suffering from polytrauma. The splinters (from a mortar shell) had pierced her chest and caused liver laceration and impacted her kidneys," the doctor said.

The police official said the body would be handed over to her family after postmortem examination.

Arnia and other sectors along the International Border and the Line of Control in Jammu region have witnessed heavy shelling from across the border for nine days from mid-May, resulting in the death of 12 people, including two BSF personnel.

Two more BSF personnel were killed in Pakistani firing along the IB in Jammu's Pragwal sector on June 3.

Devi's death brought the number of persons killed in Pakistani firing along the IB and the LoC in more than 1,250 ceasefire violations this year to 47.

The dead include 20 security personnel.

On May 29, DGMOs of India and Pakistan agreed to "fully implement" the 2003 ceasefire agreement in "letter and spirit" forthwith to stop border skirmishes in Jammu and Kashmir.

After the ceasefire violation on June 3, the sector commander's meeting took place between BSF and Pakistani rangers in Jammu on Mondayand decided to ensure peace by "holding fire" along the IB, rekindling hope among border residents.