Heart-wrenching wails filled the air as hundreds of mourners gathered on Monday for the last rites of 19-year-old Rafiya Nazir who succumbed to injuries received in a grenade attack by militants a day earlier in Chakanbagh locality here.
Inconsolable relatives and friends recalled how the young girl, who had recently passed class 12 examinations with flying colours, wanted to become a doctor.
The teenager, who had suffered fatal splinter injuries in the head in the explosion at the busy Hari Singh High Street market near Amira Kadal locality of the city, was laid to rest.
Earlier, as the body reached Chakanbagh, in Hazratbal locality of the city, hundreds of men and women – old and young alike – who had gathered at her residence erupted in loud cries of mourning.
Her relatives said she had gone out shopping with her mother and sister when the explosion occurred.
“She had received critical injuries and was operated upon. But, she succumbed this morning,” one of Rafiya’s relatives said.
He said Rafiya had secured 93 percent marks in Class 12 J-K Board exams results declared last month.
“She was preparing for professional entrance examinations and wanted to become a doctor,” he said, but the dream was shattered and young life cut short by the militant attack.
