The Jammu & Kashmir Police’s Crime Branch (CB) has named a retired government official in the Kathua rape-and-murder case of an eight-year-old nomad girl, while a medical board declared another accused “held as a juvenile” as “an adult”.
“That former revenue officer Sanji Ram may have raped and murdered the girl is the conclusion of the CB’s status report submitted to the High Court [two days ago]. Mr. Ram is the custodian of the keys to the public facility where the minor was held captive,” said Talib Hussain, an activist campaigning for the victim’s nomad community.
The girl was kidnapped on January 10 from Kathua’s Hiranagar area and the body was found from a forest area on January 17, triggering street protests in the Kashmir Valley and parts of Jammu. The victim’s family was not allowed to bury the body by local people, forcing the family to carry out the burial in a forest.
The police have arrested four policemen in the case. The detained policemen were accused of “destroying evidence”.
Another accused, who was initially thought to be a 15-year-old and confessed to the crime, has been declared a 19-year-old by a medical board set up by the court.
Ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) general secretary Peerzada Mansoor Hussain said the probe ordered by Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is going in the right direction. “No person found involved will be spared,” he said.
