By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, April 25: Suzanne Farisha Syiem, a resident of Shillong, narrowly escaped the terror attack in Pahalgam, Jammu & Kashmir, on April 22, where 26 people were shot dead.
Syiem was visiting the region as a tourist with a friend and witnessed the horrifying incident firsthand.
Speaking to a YouTube channel, she narrated the terrifying experience during their travel to the picturesque Pahalgam valley, which required about an hour and a half of trekking to reach. She described the location as reminiscent of the Shillong Golf Course — only more beautiful, nestled atop a hill.
Recalling the terrifying moments, Syiem said she was resting under the shade of a tree, as suggested by a photographer accompanying them, when she noticed an armed man hiding behind another tree.
According to her, the man — later identified as a terrorist — pointed a rifle at the photographer and demanded he recite the Kalima, an Islamic prayer. After the photographer complied, the gunman moved on. “At first, I thought he was a security personnel,” Syiem said. “But then I realised from his actions that he was a terrorist.”
She went on to describe how the attacker approached a couple and asked whether they were Muslim or Hindu. When the man replied that he was Hindu, the terrorist shot him twice in the chest. “I was terrified — I saw the blood splatter,” she recalled.
Syiem said the photographer screamed at them to run when the gunman pointed his weapon at another person’s forehead. “We had to run downhill for two and a half hours to get away from the area and reach a village,” she said.
Now safely back home, Syiem said the memory of the traumatic event will stay with her forever. “It was only by the grace and love of God that I made it out of Pahalgam alive,” she added.