MUZAFFARABAD: An elderly woman who was injured in Indian shelling from across the Line of Control (LoC) died on Friday in a hospital at Islamabad, an official said.

Wilayat Begum, 80, was asleep along with other family members in their home in Sabzkot village of Charhoi sector, in the southern Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, when a mortar shell pierced the concrete roof at about 2am on Thursday, leaving her seriously injured.

Her 18-year-old grandson, Rizwan, died on the spot, while another grandson, Kamran, was also seriously injured.

Both were rushed to the district headquarters hospital in the neighbouring Mirpur district, but Ms Begum was shifted to Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) in the federal capital due to her precarious condition, where she lost her battle for life.

“Ms Wilayat Begum has succumbed to her critical wounds in PIMS on Friday,” confirmed the deputy commissioner, Raja Arshad, in a press release.

She was laid to rest in her native area in the afternoon.

It may be recalled that on Thursday, one person was killed and around 10 others, including four minors, were injured in Kotli and Bhimber districts in indiscriminate Indian shelling.

In a tweet, Foreign Office spokesman Nafees Zakaria had said that Indian troops had violated the ceasefire along the LoC in Tandar, Sabzkot, Khuiratta, Baron, Bagsar and Khanjar sectors. “We condemn Indian acts of deliberate targeting of civilians,” he said.

Published in Dawn, May 13th, 2017