A court in Pathankot on Thursday framed charges against seven of the eight accused in the case of brutal gang-rape-and-murder of an eight-year-old girl at Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, officials said.
The district and sessions court framed charges under the Ranbir Penal Code, including Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 376-D (gang-rape), Special Public Prosecutor J.K. Chopra said.
The accused against whom charges were framed are Sanji Ram, his son Vishal, special police officers Deepak Khajuria alias Deepu and Surinder Verma, Parvesh Kumar alias Mannu, head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Arvind Datta.
Sanji Ram, considered the main accused, is alleged to have hatched the conspiracy with the other accused for kidnapping the girl as part of a strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area.
The fate of the eighth accused, a juvenile and nephew of Sanji Ram, was yet to be decided after the crime branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Police said he was an adult, Mr. Chopra said.
The court also framed charges of destruction of evidence and causing hurt by poisoning under Section 328 of the RPC. The two policemen — Tilak Raj and Arvind Datta — were also charged under Section 161 (public servant taking illegal gratification) of the RPC.
The defence counsel argued before judge Tejwinder Singh that Parvesh Kumar was a juvenile, but it was opposed by the prosecution. The judge asked the State to file objections.
The crime branch filed a chargesheet on April 9 in Kathua in the case of kidnap, rape and murder of the girl on January 10. She was killed on January 14 and her body was recovered on January 17. The chargesheet said the victim was held captive at a small village temple where she was sedated and sexually assaulted before being murdered. The girl had gone missing while grazing horses. Investigators said the accused juvenile had abducted the girl under the pretext of helping her find her horses.
