Ever since a few women were allegedly raped by Armymen and since the propaganda crossfire between the security forces and secessionists began six years ago, life has been hell for the people of Kunan-Poshpora.

The name of the village -- where poor people live in mud hutments in the thickly-wooded foothills of mountainous sanctuaries of armed insurgents, located about 110 kms north of Srinagar -- provokes sarcastic remarks. ``Oh! that village where all the women were raped.''

The incident had raised a storm over the human rights record of the Indian Army. The incident was widely publicised by the Pakistani media. The ``women of an entire village were raped,'' screamed thereports. The Press Council of India subsequently termed the allegations as ``well-concocted bundle of fabricated lies'' and exonerated the Armymen. The incident is since being taught as a lesson in the Defence colleges on how to avoid ``manipulative human rights propaganda''.

However, the incident has changed the relations between the villagers and the rest of the world. ``When I went to study in college in Kupwara, my classmates referred to me as a boy from the village of raped women,'' says 23-year-old Abdul Rashid, who runs a medicine shop in Kunan now. Unable to put up with the humiliation, Rashid dropped out. At least ten girls in the village have crossed 30 years of age -- and are now considered unfit for marriage by the villagers.

The villagers fear about 42 more girls face the same uncertain future unless hostility towards the hapless village ends. Saira, a victim herself, pours her rage on a village elder. ``What do you think, we are some objects of display? You have displayed us through ourpictures throughout Pakistan -- we have been condemned for life.''

Saira says nobody even bothers to look into the agonies of women in Kunan-Poshpora after the incident. Her daughter, Sabira, was married to a relative whose parents were unwilling to accept the ``daughter of a raped woman''. Sabira gave birth to a son and was sent back to her mother's place by her in-laws over a petty quarrel. ``Basically, it is the inner contempt for the women of Kunan-Poshpora that leads to domestic unrest,'' Saira says.

Mumtaz says she was planning to break her marriage to a man who earned nothing when the incident happened. ``I had to compromise and live with my husband.'' Shakeela says she has been living a subjugated life under a tyrant husband who often accuses her of ``being immoral''.

Zoona, a middle-aged widow, recalls an incident which tells how the neighbouring villages treat them. ``Once, we all women from the village were collecting firewood from the jungles. We had a small quarrel with the womenfolk of aneighbouring village. Saira, who vocally speaks for the women, accuses Kashmiri secessionist leaders of having exploited their plight and made money. ``We know tonnes of money have arrived in our name (from Pakistan and the Islamic world). But what did we get instead -- humiliation and bad name,'' she says.

(Some names have been changed to protect identity)