Kathua Case Verdict: Victory of the Victim

The pronouncements of the special court judgment on Kathua minor rape case is an eye opener for those mainstream politicians who tried to instigate regional and religious polarization over the investigation of the case by the Crime Branch of Jammu & Kashmir Police and there is no bar on the Crime Branch for taking its plea for capital punishment to six convicts and stay on acquittal of one of the accused people to higher courts including the Supreme Court of the country. Undoubtedly the judgment of the fast-track court that convicted six accused for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district last year vindicates the points put on record in the charge sheet by the Crime Branch of the Jammu & Kashmir police and the politicians who persistently raised the demand for inquiry into this minor gang rape case by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) should draw lessons from the judgment which by all means is virtually an endorsement of the crime branch investigation. The judgment would undoubtedly restore the faith of people in the justice delivery system of the country as it was Supreme Court of India which very rightly shifted the case from Kathua in Jammu to Pathankot in Punjab. The Supreme Court’s timely intervention conveyed a strong message to the people of Jammu & Kashmir that the legal system will stand by the truth and justice will be delivered irrespective of the intensifying polarization tendencies of different political parties in the state. Even the politicians who persistently raised the demand for handing over the investigation of the case to the central bureau of investigation (CBI) may find no point to dispute the fact that the special Investigation Team of the Jammu and Kashmir Police headed by a local non muslim promising Kashmir police officer of SSP rank too did a commendable job by conducting a thoroughly professional investigation and presented a detailed charge-sheet to the court. As the media reports suggested that local police had been bribed by one of the convicts to tamper with evidence; and wash the victim’s clothes to destroy material evidence, the investigation had become a huge challenge for the investigation team of the Crime Branch of the state police.
Since Crime Branch on the grounds of its investigation now endorsed by the special court has the right to go for appeal against the acquittal of one and enhancement of punishment to six others convicted as per the judgment, the judgment of the special court does not shut the doors for Crime Branch to take the battle for capital punishment in higher courts including the Supreme Court of the country. A thorough professional investigation and the delivery of justice within a specific time-frame is a great success for the Crime Branch of Jammu & Kashmir and a victory for the victim eight year minor nomadic muslim girl Asifa but the road to plea for capital punishment to convicts and stay on acquittal of one of the accused does not end here for the Crime Branch .