SC to hear Kathua rape victim father’s plea seeking to shift trial to Chandigarh | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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SC to hear Kathua rape victim father’s plea seeking to shift trial to Chandigarh

ByHT Correspondent
Apr 16, 2018 12:06 PM IST

The father moved the Supreme Court on Monday alleging the circumstance in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua are not conducive to a free and fair trial and that it needs to be shifted.

The Supreme Court on Monday fixed an urgent hearing on the petition of the father of the eight-year-old girl, who was gang-raped and murdered in Jammu district, requesting the transfer of the trial in the case from Kathua to Chandigarh.

People hold placards as they protest against the rapes of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua near Jammu, and a teenager in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in Mumbai. Protests were held in different parts of the country.(Satish Bate/HT Photo)
People hold placards as they protest against the rapes of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua near Jammu, and a teenager in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh, in Mumbai. Protests were held in different parts of the country.(Satish Bate/HT Photo)

The top court will hear the petition of the girl’s father at 2pm.

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The father moved the Supreme Court on Monday alleging the circumstance in Kathua are not conducive to a free and fair trial and that it needs to be shifted.

“Even at the time of filing of the charge sheet in the instant case, the crime branch of the Jammu and Kashmir police faced severe resistance from local lawyers who prevented them from filing the documents before the court on April 10, thereby not only hindering the police officials from carrying on their duties but also rendering the entire judicial machinery nugatory,” the petition said.

The petition filed by advocate Sunil Fernandes also seeks protection for local lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat, who is representing the girl’s family.

It also appeals for the strengthening of the security cover at the juvenile home that houses the minor accused and to prevent unauthorised individuals from meeting them.

“Kathua Bar Association and Jammu Bar Association have been repeatedly holding agitations and rallies against the crime branch and the lawyers representing the petitioner herein by taking rounds on the back of trucks, carrying the Tricolour and bamboo sticks, and shouting slogans in favour of the accused persons,” the petition said apprising the court of the situation in Kathua.

Eight, including a juvenile, have been accused of holding the girl in captivity for a week inside ‘Devisthan’, a small temple in Rasana village about 90km from Kathua, sedating her and sexually assaulting her repeatedly before killing her in January.

According to the charge sheets filed by the crime branch, the abduction, rape and killing of the Bakarwal girl was part of a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area.

It lists Sanji Ram, the caretaker of the ‘Devisthan’, as the main conspirator behind the crime. Sanji Ram was allegedly joined by special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma, friend Parvesh Kumar alias Mannu, Ram’s nephew, a juvenile, and his son Vishal Jangotra alias “Shamma”.

The charge sheet also names investigating officers head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Dutta, who allegedly took 4 lakh from Ram and destroyed crucial evidence.

All of the eight accused are under arrest.

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