In a show of religious harmony, thousands of Muslims in India-held Kashmir helped perform the last rites of a female Kashmiri pundit in Anantnag district, Asia News International (ANI), an Indian news agency, reported on Sunday.

Around 3,000 people, mostly Muslims helped perform the last rites of Nancy Koul, who is survived by her four children, including two girls. Koul's husband died last year.

Scores of her Muslim neighbours rushed to Koul's residence after the news of her death broke. They not only consoled her family and mourned her demise but also performed the pundit's last rituals.

"This is our culture and we share brotherhood. We do not believe in divisive politics. We share a composite culture," a neighbour said while talking to ANI.

Due to the communal and religious harmony in the area, Koul and her husband had decided to stay on in their native village in the 1990s when a large number of Kashmiri pundits had migrated from the region.