Wave of Kashmir disappearances, mystery deaths spook tribal community | Conflict

Kulgam, Indian-administered Kashmir — When Showkat Ahmad’s body was found, it had sores and a bloodied eye. His hair was falling out, and the skin on the 18-year-old’s hands and legs was peeling off, recalled his father, Mohamad Sadiq.

That was March 16, three days after Sadiq had learned that his elder son, Riyaz, 25, had also died, a month after the two young men had disappeared.

According to the official verdict of law enforcement officials, Showkat and Riyaz drowned in a canal in…