Jeelani died en route to the hospital after a van carrying an elections monitoring team detonated an explosive device on a rural road in northern Kashmir.
Jeelani was a freelance journalist who contributed to local newspapers, and a human rights activist who worked with several nongovernmental organizations. Local sources said she was helping a local umbrella organization, the Coalition of Civil Society, prepare an account of its monitoring activity, and may have been reporting on the election herself.
The driver of the van was also killed in the blast. After the explosion, the coalition called off its monitoring activities, citing the danger involved.