The government on Friday ordered a magisterial probe into the “rape” and murder of eight-year-old Asifa Bano of Hiranagar, Kathua, after the opposition protested in the legislative assembly and lashed out at the police for “failing” to trace her promptly after she went missing last week.
Responding to the opposition, parliamentary affairs minister Abdur Rehman Veeri said that the deputy commissioner concerned will conduct a magisterial inquiry into the girl’s gruesome murder. He however remained silent on alleged rape of the girl.
Asifa, a girl from Bakerwal community, went missing on January 10. Her body was found on Wednesday on the outskirts of her native Rasana village.
Her father Muhammad Yousuf alleged that her daughter’s chastity had been outraged before her murder.
“There were torture marks on her face and some other body parts,” he said.
The minister said that whosoever is found involved in the incident will not be spared.
“We will also not spare the officers if there was any administrative lapse on their part,” he said.
As soon as proceedings of the House began this morning, National Conference MLA Mian Altaf demanded a time-bound probe into the incident.
“This is a serious issue,” Altaf said, waving a copy of Kashmir Uzma in the House.
Shouted slogans ‘laadli beti ko insaaf do, insaaf do’, ‘sharam karo, sharam karo’, the opposition members asked the government about the status of the investigation.
“You cannot take the House for granted. You should tell us about the status of the investigation,” NC’s Ali Muhammad Sagar said.
The opposition had also staged protests in the House on Thursday, accusing the police of adopting a laidback approach after the girl’s “abduction.” Her family had filed a complaint with the police on January 11.
“The police did not make any effort to search for her. They only came once and later told us over phone that ‘you should search for her on your own,’” said Tufail Ahmad, a relative of the deceased girl.
He said that she went missing on January 10 when she was looking for a mule owned by her family.
“We were worried after she did not return. We searched for her everywhere but could not find her,” he said.
‘ACCUSED ARRESTED’
Meanwhile, the government said that the accused, a minor (15-year-old), has been arrested in connection with the death of a minor girl in Hiranagar area of district Kathua.
Responding to the concerns expressed by the legislators on the gruesome incident, Veeri informed the House that the accused has confessed to the crime, an official spokesman said.
He said that the investigation conducted by the special investigation team headed by SDPO border Chadwal revealed that the accused kidnapped the minor girl and put her in nearby cowshed at village Rassana, where he attempted to rape her and when she resisted, he killed her by way of strangulation. He said that the accused has been arrested and further investigations are on.
Giving details of the case, the minister said that on 12.01.2018, the complainant Muhammad Yousuf S/o Shab Din R/o Rassana Mohara, Tehsil Hiranagar produced a written application before the police stating therein that his daughter namely Asifa (8 years) had gone for grazing horses in the nearby forest area.
“At about 1600 hours, the horses returned to Dhera but Asifa did not return. Consequently, the complainant alongwith others started search in the forest and on the next day they again searched the forest areas but Asifa could not be traced,” the minister said.
As per the content of the application, a case vide FIR No 10/2018 U/S363 RPC was registered and the investigation started.
The minister said that during the course of investigation, a police party from Hiranagar and VDC Badoli visited the spot and a search of Rassana forest was conducted alongwith civilians and Bakerwals residing in the area.
He said that on 17.01.2017, at about 1030 hours, the body of missing girl Asifa was recovered from the Rassana forest area. “Thereafter the police team alongwith SDPO and SHO Hiranagar visited the spot and photography of body was conducted through crime photographer; the service of FSL team was also utilised. The body of deceased was taken into police custody for post-mortem at district hospital Kathua. The body was handed over to the legal heirs for last rites,” Veeri said.
Investigation of case is in progress to collect more evidence about the commission of offence by the accused, he said.
Earlier, minister for works, Naeem Akhtar also made a statement in the upper house on the issue.