SRINAGAR, India: Thousands of Muslims marched in defiance of a strict curfew in parts of Indian Kashmir on Wednesday as the death toll from recent protests rose to four, officials and witnesses said.

Chanting, "blood for blood" and "we want freedom," thousands of residents of northern Baramulla town held noisy anti-India demonstrations, despite attempts by police to break up the protests.

The protesters carried the body of a young Muslim, who had died in hospital from injuries sustained during a similar demonstration earlier in the week.

The recent unrest began on Monday when thousands protested in Baramulla against the alleged harassment of a Muslim woman by police. Police fired live rounds to disperse the demonstrators, killing two people.

The shootings brought thousands more onto the streets and the unrest spread to the neighbouring town of Sopore, prompting the district authorities to impose curfews in both towns.

On Tuesday, a third protester was killed, and the latest victim died from his injuries on Wednesday.

"The situation in the town (Baramulla) is very tense," local journalist Showket Ahmed told AFP by telephone.

A general strike – called in response to the shootings – crippled life in the summer capital Srinagar and other towns in the Muslim-dominated Kashmir valley for the second day running.

Most schools, shops and offices closed in Srinagar where police sealed off some neighbourhoods to prevent protests.


- AFP/so