'My Father Was Shot In Front Of Me': Former Dubai Resident Recounts Pahalgam Horror

[Editor's Note: Catch the latest updates on KT's live blog tracking rising tensions between India and Pakistan since the Pahalgam attack.]

When former Dubai resident Arathi Menon travelled to Kashmir with her parents and six-year-old twin sons, she had never imagined that the leisure trip would turn into her worst nightmare. Arathi's father was shot and killed by one of the several gunmen who unleashed a terror attack in the Pahalgam region of the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir earlier this week.

“A gunman came to us and said something, but we could not understand him,” she said, speaking to Malayalam TV channels from the southern Indian state of Kochi.“Within five seconds he shot my father in front of me. I hugged his body and cried. I immediately understood that he was dead.”

Her father, 65-year-old Ramachandran, also a former Dubai resident, was among the 26 people killed in the Baisaran valley.

Arathi said the gunman also pointed a gun at her.“He pointed the gun at my head,” she recalled.“I don't know whether he wanted to kill me, or he wanted to scare me. My children started crying and screaming loudly. Maybe that is why he spared me.”

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The incident has worsened diplomatic relations and triggered retaliatory measures between neighbours India and Pakistan, including closing the airspace, a move that could impact flights from the UAE .

Arathi and her family reached Kashmir on April 21, the day before the incident and arrived in the valley, which is called 'mini Switzerland', just ten minutes before the attack. Her mother had stayed back in the car while she accompanied her father and children to enjoy a ride.

“When I first heard the loud sound, I thought it was firecrackers,” she said.“When I heard the second sound, I saw someone shooting to the sky from a distance. I immediately understood that it was a terror attack and began running with my father and children.”

The family escaped by climbing under a fence, only to come face to face with another shooter, who eventually killed her father. She said that she was frozen for minutes after the incident.“My kids started screaming 'mom, let's move' and that was my wake-up call,” she recalled.“We ran down the hill. Within about seven minutes, military and ambulance arrived in the area. As soon as I regained mobile signal, I called my driver Muzaffar and told him where I was.”

Arathi commended the compassion with which she was treated by local Kashmiris.“Both Muzaffar and another man Sameer, they treated me like a sister and accompanied me to the mortuary, where I waited till around 3am,” she said.“I keep saying that I got two brothers in Kashmir. That is the way they treated me.”

She added that after the incident, her focus was on not letting her mother know that her father had died.“I asked TV connection to be disconnected in our hotel room and even in Srinagar airport,” she said.“I told my mother that my father was hurt and needed treatment. I had to stay strong to handle both my mother and my kids at the time. I only told her the truth once we returned to Kerala.”

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