Aarti R Menon. (The News Minute photo)
Kochi: A Kerala woman who witnessed her father being shot dead in front of her in the deadly terrorist attack in Pahalgam said that two Muslim Kashmiri drivers stood with her, taking care of her through the trauma she had gone through till she boarded the flight to Kerala. Praising the two men, the woman named Aarti R Menon said that they stood with her like her brothers, The News Minute reported.
Aarti was at Pahalgam’s Baisaran valley with her sons and father when terrorists opened fire at innocent tourists who were on a trekking trip. She recounted that terrorists in plain clothes approached her and her father and asked to recite ‘Kalima’, the prayer words recited by Muslims.
Aarti said that one of the attackers shouted and ordered them to lie down. He approached her group and repeated the word ‘Kalima’, and when they replied that they didn't understand, the assailant shot her father and poked the gun on her head. She said she was not sure whether he did that to kill her or scare her, but he walked away when her sons started crying.
Her father, Ramachandran, was one among the 26 who were killed by terrorists in the attack.
Aarti recounted that she ran for almost one hour with her two sons till she got signal coverage for her mobile phone and sought help from her taxi driver, Musaffir, a Kashmiri man.
She said that the Kashmiri drivers, Musaffir and Samir, took good care of her like brothers. They were with her both times she had to visit the mortuary, first at 3 am and then at 6 am.