Pathankot: Six of the seven accused have been held guilty in the gang-rape, torture and killing of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua in January last year, which sent shockwaves across the entire country, triggering wide-scale protests for justice for the victim.
The accused were convicted by a special court in Pathankot include former government officer Sanji Ram, who was believed to be the mastermind.
Besides Sanji Ram, the others arrested in the case were his son Vishal, a nephew whose age is being disputed, his friend Anand Dutta and two special police officers identified as Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma. The policemen accused of destroying evidence are Head Constable Tilak Raj and Sub-Inspector Anand Dutta.
All of them may face a minimum sentence of life imprisonment and a maximum of death penalty.
The in-camera trial in the case ended on June 3, following which District and Sessions Judge Tejwinder Singh announced that the verdict would be delivered today. Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place because of the high-profile nature of the case.
The girl, who belonged to a Muslim nomadic tribe, was kidnapped and held captive at a village temple in Kathua district on January 10 last year. She was drugged, starved and repeatedly raped for days. She was finally strangled and her head was dashed against a rock.
The child’s mutilated body was found in a forest area on January 17. Three days later, one of the accused, reportedly a juvenile, was arrested by police. The trial in his case is yet to begin because a petition on determining his age is yet to be heard by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The investigations of the Crime Branch suggested that the girl was raped and murdered in an effort to strike fear among Muslim nomads frequenting the Kathua area of Jammu and to drive them out.
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Ms Kalinga