Kathua verdict: three get lifer, three 5-year jail, one acquitted

Srinagar/Pathankot: A special court in Pathankot on Monday awarded life imprisonment to three of the six persons convicted in the rape-and-murder case of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua last year. The remaining three, all of them police officers, were sentenced to five years in jail for destruction of evidence. The court acquitted Vishal Jangotra, son of mastermind Sanji Ram, giving him the ‘benefit of doubt’, according to Mubeen Farooqi, who represented the victim’s family in the court.
Announcing the quantum of punishment, the court sentenced the three main accused — Sanji Ram, the caretaker of the devsthanam (temple) where the crime took place, Special Police Officer Deepak Khajuria, and Parvesh Kumar — to life imprisonment and also imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each. The three were also handed different jail terms for various offences under the Ranbir Penal Code. The jail terms will run concurrently with the life term, prosecution lawyer Santokh Singh said.
The remaining three accused — Sub Inspector Anand Dutta, Head Constable Tilak Raj and special police officer Surender Verma — were charged with destruction of evidence and awarded five years jail besides a fine of Rs 50,000 each. If they do not deposit the fine, they will have to serve an additional six months in jail, Singh said.
The prosecution team, comprising lawyers J K Chopra, S S Basra, Harminder Singh and Bhupinder Singh, said it had demanded capital punishment for the main accused and may appeal against the sole acquittal. “We have sought capital punishment against all three accused convicted of murder and gang rape. It was hard work of all of us and a perfect blend of investigation and legal brains. We have achieved 99 per cent result,” the statement said.
The families of the accused alleged that the verdict was a result of media trial. “The media made a case against us. We are a victim of the media,” a relative of one of the accused said. One of the defence lawyers claimed that they will now challenge the verdict in a higher court.
The crime branch of J&K Police had filed the charge sheet against eight persons, including a juvenile. The trial against the juvenile is yet to begin as his petition on determining his age is to be heard by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
According to the 15-page chargesheet, the minor girl, who was kidnapped on January 10 last year, was allegedly raped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district after having been kept sedated for four days before she was bludgeoned to death. Sanji Ram, considered the main accused, hatched the conspiracy along with others, as part of a strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area.
The case was shifted from Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot following a Supreme Court order after lawyers in Kathua prevented Crime Branch officials from filing a chargesheet in the case.
Meanwhile, the verdict of the court was welcomed by mainstream as well as the pro-freedom leaders in Jammu and Kashmir including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti and Hurriyat Conference (M) chairman Mirwaiz Umar Farooq.
NC vice president and former chief minister Omar Abdullah in a tweet called for a severe punishment for the convicted. “Amen to that. The guilty deserve the most severe punishment possible under law. And to those politicians who defended the accused, vilified the victim & threatened the legal system no words of condemnation are enough. #KathuaRapeCase,” Omar tweeted.
PDP chief and former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti hoped that loopholes in judicial system would not be exploited. “Welcome the judgement. High time we stop playing politics over a heinous crime where an 8 year old child was drugged, raped repeatedly & then bludgeoned to death. Hope loopholes in our judicial system are not exploited & culprits get exemplary punishment,” Mehbooba tweeted.
The Mirwaiz of Kashmir welcomed the verdict, hoping exemplary punishment against the guilty. “Welcome the court verdict on the kathua gang rape murder case. I hope that exemplary punishment is given to the culprits,” Mirwaiz wrote on his twitter.
Former Director General of Police (DGP) Shesh Paul Vaid, Member of Parliament (MP) from Ghaziabad Vijay Kumar Singh who is also former Army chief also welcomed the verdict. V K Singh in a tweet said that the verdict give him a home that such brutalities won’t go unpunished.
“Guilty from #Kathua rape-murder case are convicted-it gives me hope that such brutalities will not go unpunished. But it also makes me think of our collective consciousness as a society-why should Kathua or Aligarh happen? Need to educate our boys on how to treat & respect women,” Singh tweeted. Vaid said that law of the land prevails. “Law of the land prevails. Justice for Asifa. #Kathua,” S P Vaid tweeted.
Chairman Peoples’ Democratic Front (PDF) Hakeem Yaseen in his statement hailed the court verdict on Rasana, rape and murder case in which 6 accused including the mastermind behind the heinous crime have been convicted. He said it was heartening that ultimately Justice has been done to 8 years old nomadic girl of Rasana village, who was mercilessly gang raped and murdered last year.
In a statemen issued Monday Hakeem Yaseen has said that the court verdict is a big relief to the victim family and a big victory of judicial system in the country.
He congratulated the whole legal team and investigation agencies for working in close coordination to unearth the most shocking and barbaric crime of its kind which had caused widespread outrage through out the country. He has also appreciated Jammu and Kashmir High Court for monitoring the case and ensuring its free and fair trial . ” The investigation and legal teams dealing with the most sensational and high profile murder case deserve many many kudos, ” Hakeem Yaseen said adding that despite major obstructions caused by vested interests in the way of fair trial and investigation, the whole team has sucessfully gathered scientific evidences which has led to the fast track completion of the court trial.
PDF Chief said that role of Supreme Court in the case was also appreciable which timely ordered its shifting from Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankote in the neighboring Punjab state to ensure fair and free trial.
CPI (M) leader Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami also welcomed the verdict by the Pathankot court which convicted six out of seven accused in connection with the Kathua gang-rape and murder case of an 8-year-old nomadic girl.
The gruesome gangrape and murder is crime committed by the enemies of humanity. Crime is a crime irrespective of criminal’s caste, colour and creed. Unfortunately, some fringe elements had tried to communalise this incident but due to intervention of judiciary, people of the state and the country they could not succeed.