On Wednesday, hundreds of protesters chanting, "Down with India," defied a curfew and marched through the town of Baramulla, which lies 35 miles (55 kilometers) north of Srinagar, the main city in the Indian portion of divided Kashmir.

Shops and businesses were shuttered for a second day across the Kashmir Valley in response to a strike call by separatist groups.

Violent protests have rocked Baramulla since Monday, when police detained a man and allegedly molested his wife in this conservative Muslim community in action evocative of volatile demonstrations that broke out in late May after the rape and murder of two local women that many locals blamed on Indian soldiers.

So far this week, four people have died and dozens have been injured as government troops have fired tear gas and live ammunition to disperse hundreds of stone-throwing protesters.

A 14-year-old boy died in a Srinagar hospital Wednesday, a day after he was shot by the paramilitary Central Reserve Police Force, a police statement said. The shooting killed another protester on Tuesday and two others died Monday.

On Wednesday, state police asked the Central Reserve Police to hand over the soldier for prosecution for firing that killed two protesters. The soldier has not yet been formally charged.

Rights groups say investigations into such crimes rarely yield results and are often meant only to calm public anger.