The Peoples Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti Thursday said that during her tenure as chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir she tried her best to ensure justice in the rape and murder of eight-year-old girl in Kathua.
Taking to twitter, Mehbooba also slammed her former ally in government, the Bharatiya Janata Party, and said “instead of condemning the gruesome incident, the party lawmakers staged protests in favour of the rapists”.
“As a CM I tried my best to ensure justice was done. Can only hope that the accused are punished severely so that no other girl has to endure such pain and trauma,” Mehbooba tweeted.
“Thursday marks a year since the horrific rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua took place. Sadly, instead of condemning such a gruesome incident, BJP lawmakers staged protests in favour of the rapists. Even a crime like rape was communalised and passions were stoked to justify it”, the former chief minister wrote in another tweet.
On 17 January 2018, the body of the nomadic Muslim girl was found in the forests of Rasana village in Kathua district and subsequently taken into custody by the police to allow an autopsy to be conducted.
Kidnapped a week before, she had been drugged, repeatedly raped and murdered.
According to the investigations of the Crime Branch, the child was killed on January 14. After raping her one last time, the killer had strangled her and bashed her head with a stone, the police said.
A statement released by the police had listed seven individuals who had been arrested and charged over the crime, including four police officers.
Two of the police officers were arrested for attempting to destroy evidence, and also stand accused of accepting money to cover up the incident. One of the accused claimed to be 15 years old, though a medical examination later suggested he was 19.
Sanji Ram, one of the accused, was described by the police as having devised the plan of kidnap and murder.
The chargesheet against the seven adults accused of the crime was filed on 9 April. The accused were charged under sections 302, 376, 201 and 120-B of the Ranbir Penal Code.