The J&K Crime Branch submitted a chargesheet in court on Monday against the seven accused in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua.
“The chargesheet against the seven accused persons involved in the crime has been produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate, Kathua,” said Inspector-General of Police, Crime Branch, Syed Ahfadul Mujtaba.
The seven accused charged under Sections 302, 376, 201 and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code, were identified as a retired government official, Sanjhi Ram; his son Vishal, special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma; head constable Tilak Raj; sub-inspector Anand Dutta; and a civilian, Parvesh Kumar.
The Crime Branch said it was in the process of producing a separate chargesheet against a “juvenile, who is among the main accused in the crime”. The lawyers of the Kathua Bar Association held protests to stop the police from submitting the chargesheet.
“We want an investigation done by the CBI,” said a protesting lawyer.
A eight-year-old girl from a nomad community was kidnapped on January 10 from Kathua’s Hiranagar area and her body was found in a forest area on January 17, triggering street protests in Kashmir valley and parts of Jammu. The family alleged that she was kidnapped, drugged, raped and murdered inside a temple in Kathua, apparently to drive away the community from the area.
The four policemen in the case were accused of “destroying evidence.” Another accused who confessed to the crime was initially believed to be 15 years old, but was declared a 19-year-old by a medical board set up by the court.
