This story is from April 15, 2018

There were nationwide protests against the Kathua rape-murder

JAMMU: The trial in the gruesome Kathua rape and murder case begins Monday against eight accused who allegedly held an eight-year-old girl in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district for a week in January this year, during which she was kept sedated and sexually assaulted before being bludgeoned to death.The accused include a juvenile against whom a separate charge sheet was filed.The chief judicial magistrate of Kathua will be committing one of the charge sheets, in which seven people have been named, to the sessions court for trial as mandated under the law. The chief judicial magistrate will, however, hold the trial for the juvenile as it is the designated court under the juvenile act, according to officials.The Jammu and Kashmir government has appointed two special public prosecutors, both Sikhs, for the trial in the sensitive case, a move being seen as made to ensure "neutrality" in view of Hindu-Muslim polarisation over the case.The trial is expected to go smoothly after the Jammu Bar association as well as the Kathua Bar received a rap on the kuckles by the Supreme Court on April 13 as the apex court took a strong note of some lawyers obstructing the judicial process in the case.The Supreme Court initiated a case on its own record saying such impediment "affects the dispensation of justice and would amount to obstruction of access to justice".A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud was also critical of the Jammu High Court Bar Association, which had passed a resolution not to attend the courts saying "it is the duty of the bar association as a collective body and they cannot obstruct the process of law".According to the charge sheets filed by the crime branch, the abduction, rape and killing of the Bakerwal girl was part of a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area.It lists the caretaker of 'Devisthan', a small temple, in a village in Kathua, about 90 km from here, 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 Rs 4 lakh from Ram and destroyed crucial evidence.All eight are under arrest.The crime branch will also be handing over the notices issued to the Jammu Bar Council as well as Kathua Bar Council for appearing before the Supreme Court on April 19.The Bar Association of Kathua has already retracted from its earlier statement of providing legal assistance free of cost to the accused and said "after going through the charge sheet presented by the crime branch (against the accused in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate on April 9) it is revealed that the allegations against the accused persons are very grave and as such this case is to be dealt with in a professional way."As such, we have withdrawn our offer to contest the case free of cost. Accused are free to engage any individual advocate and exercise their respective rights of defence in the court. It is for any individual advocate to accept the brief and the bar association will not come in the way of defence nor the bar association will hamper the prosecution," President of BAK Kirty Bhushan Mahajan had said in a seven page statement yesterday.Members of the same association had blocked the way of crime branch personnel from submitting the charge sheet before the chief judicial magistrate for six hours forcing the police to present it at the house of the magistrate.Police have already registered a case against lawyers for obstructing public servants from performing their duty.The Jammu Bar association, which was left red-faced after the Supreme Court's observation, attempted to put a brave face saying they had full faith in the apex court and said their main demand was for shifting of illegally settled Rohingyas.It denounced the attempts made by certain quarters for making wrongful attempts to project the association as "pro-rapist" or "anti-national".The association today fielded a senior woman advocate Surinder Kour who said "we are now satisfied that the case has reached the Supreme Court and we are satisfied that justice will be delivered to the minor girl."JHCBA is on strike since April 4 and sponsored a general strike on April 11 in Jammu to press for its demands including for according district status to Nowshera sub division in Rajouri district."We included the demand for CBI probe into the Kathua rape and murder at the request of civil society," Kour said and accused the state government of forcing them into agitation by "giving no response to our concerns despite repeated memorandums and statements."</s>NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday issued a notice to the Jammu and Kashmir state government seeking a reply on the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in J&K's Kathua. The top court directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to provide police protection to the victim's family and their counsel Deepika S Rajawat.

"The Supreme Court has issued directions to the authorities to provide protection to us (victim family and their counsel)," said Deepika S Rajawat, Counsel of the Kathua rape victim.

The development comes shortly after the father of the girl moved the apex Court seeking safety and security. He also demanded that the case, which has led to a country-wide uproar, be shifted to a court outside Jammu and Kashmir.

Senior Supreme Court lawyer, Indira Jaising who is appearing for the victim's father, told the top court that the atmosphere is not conducive to a fair trial. "The atmosphere is highly polarised," said Indira Jaising.

"The state police had done a good job and it not only arrested all the accused persons on evidence but also on a scientific basis," she added.

Approaching the apex court earlier on Monday, the father of the eight-year-old girl demanded in his plea that the case should be transferred to Chandigarh, claiming that the trial might get influenced in Jammu. The victim's father further demanded that the trial must be put on hold unless the case is transferred out of Jammu.

The plea further says that politicians must be stopped from meeting the juvenile accused in the case and that the status report of the case should be submitted before the Supreme Court as the case proceeds.

This came as the trial in the case had begun in the rape and murder case on Monday. The court was, however, adjourned soon after the hearing began as the defence claimed that the Jammu and Kashmir Police had not provided a copy of the chargesheet to them.

The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for April 28.

The victim’s father had moved the Supreme Court after his lawyer, Deepika Singh Rajawat, claimed threat to her life. She claimed that she feared getting raped or killed following threats.

"I don't know till when I will be alive. I can be raped, my modesty can be outraged, I can be killed, I can be damaged. I was threatened that 'we will not forgive you'. I am going to tell SC that I am in danger," Deepika had said.

An eight-year-old girl belonging to the nomadic community had gone missing on January 10 while grazing horses in Rasana forest in Kathua's Hiranagar area. Her body was found a week later. Police investigations revealed she was held captive inside a temple, sedated and repeatedly raped before her murder.</s>The eight men accused of abducting, drugging and raping an eight-year-old nomad girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua have pleaded 'not guilty' in the trial that began on Monday. The accused also asked the judge asked the judge to order a narco analysis test.

The lawyers of the accused, one of whom is a juvenile, entered their plea and called for the narco tests, before telling the judge that the Jammu and Kashmir court had not provided them with copies of the chargesheet. The court was adjourned to allow for this routine procedure, and a further hearing has been set for April 28.

The 'no guilty' please in the case, which has sparked outrage and protests across the country, came even as the father of the victim moved the Supreme Court asking for the case to be transferred out of Jammu and Kashmir to prevent interference and ensure a fair trial. He had asked the top court to shift the trial to Chandigarh. He had also sought security cover in light of the charged atmosphere surrounding the case.

The victim's father also appealed to the Supreme Court to restrain politicians from meeting the juvenile accused in the case, and asked that status report be submitted before the Supreme Court as the case proceeds.

His lawyer, Deepika Singh Rajawat, had also claimed that she feared getting raped or killed following threats. She had decided to inform the Supreme Court about the same. The Supreme Court had subsequently ordered the Jammu and Kashmir Police to provide protection to Rajawat and to the girl's family.

An eight-year-old girl belonging to the nomadic community had gone missing on January 10 while grazing horses in Rasana forest in Kathua's Hiranagar area. Her body was found a week later. Police investigations revealed she was held captive inside a temple, sedated and repeatedly raped before her murder.</s>The hearing in murder and rape case of an 8-year-old girl from Kathua started today, on April 16, at the Jammu and Kashmir Sessions court. As per reports, Supreme Court will be hearing a plea filed by the victim’s father over the transfer of case at around 2 PM today. The PIL filed by the victim’s lawyer, seeks the transfer of case outside the J&K to Delhi. The police have booked eight accused in the matter and a juvenile who allegedly held the victim hostage in January. As per the chargesheet filed in the case by the police, the minor girl was kept in a temple for almost a week. The accused kept sedating the girl for days and took turns to sexually assault her. After holding the girl in captivity for days, the accused killed her by crushing her head with a rock and disposing off her body near the temple.

In order to calm the growing criticism for the government, the Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has not only forwarded the resignation of two BJP leaders the Governor but has also ordered the formation of a SIT and has appointed two Sikh special public prosecutors. Reports suggest that the hearing in the matter are expected to run their natural course after the Supreme Court had sought explanations from the Bar Council of India, Jammu and Kashmir Bar Council, Jammu High Court Bar Association and Kathua District Bar Association over the lawyers causing obstruction in the case.

Here are the Live updates on Kathua rape case:

11:22 AM – Daughter of one of the accused in Kathua case has alleged conspiracy and demanded CBI probe into the matter.

11:12 AM – The court has directed that the chargesheet copies should be provided to all accused. The accused are set to be ready for narco tests as well. Talking to media, Ankur Sharma, said, “Next date of hearing is April 28.”

11:02 AM – Commenting on the charges, one of the accused said that everything will be clear after Narco test.

10:54 AM – The father of the 8-year-old victim reaches the Supreme Court. He has filed a plea seeking security and transfer of the case outside Jammu and Kashmir. The court has agreed to hear the plea at 2 PM today.

10:48 AM – Accused being brought to District Court by the security officials.

10:10 AM – Counsel for accused, Raj Tilak, Aseem Sahni, said that full chargesheet copy has not been provided. He added, “we are depending on information from social media.We are handicapped.”</s>Jammu: Lawyers in Jammu roamed the streets to enforce a strike against the Jammu and Kashmir government headed by Mehbooba Mufti's Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which is in coalition with the BJP. Among their other demands, the lawyers wanted the government to hand over the rape and murder case of the eight-year-old nomad girl, to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Her rape and murder has had Jammu and Kashmir on edge since last month. A chargesheet was filed by the state police's crime branch on Monday.

The minor was abducted, raped and murdered in Rassana village in Hiranagar tehsil of Kathua district in January. The body of the girl, from the Bakarwal community, was recovered from Rassana forest in Kathua on 17 January, a week after she went missing while grazing horses in the forest area.

On Wednesday afternoon, starting from the Jammu airport to Gandhi Nagar, in the heart of the winter capital, angry protesters, backed by the BJP and other parties, burnt tyres in the middle of roads and patrolled the city to enforce the strike. Several protesters were carrying bamboo sticks.

"We will never trust a government led by a Kashmiri, even if its partner is the BJP," 33-year-old Vishal Dogra, a protester who was joined by lawyers on the road few hundred meters from the airport, told Firstpost. "We want the Rasaana case to be handed over to the CBI."

The issue that brought Jammu to grinding halt on Wednesday has failed to evoke outrage in the country. The rape of the eight-year-old nomad girl who, according to investigators, after being drugged and raped repeatedly inside a temple in Rassana village of Kathua district, a Hindu majority district where nomads have lived in peace for decades, has also exposed faultlines in Jammu and Kashmir's polity.

The victim's family, like any other Gujjar nomads in the region, spend summers crisscrossing the mighty Himalayan mountains with their flock of livestock: herding sheep on their lush green meadows, camping along fresh water streams and selling goat and buffalo milk. As winters set in, they descend on the plains in Jammu, a climatically warmer place during the period of intense chill and snow on mountains.

“She fell prey to a conspiracy hatched for months by Sanji Ram, the custodian of the temple. And in this horrifying story, a place of worship was used for the heinous crime,” a crime branch official in Jammu told Firstpost.

As the protesters' crowd swelled, emboldened by the response the president of Bar Association of Jammu, Bopinder Singh Saluthia, who is spearheading the agitation, increased the number of demands. He was addressing protesters, many of whom wore saffron headbands while chanting ‘Bam Bam Bole' and ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai'.

"We are the same people who did not allow Mehbooba Mufti and Farooq Abdullah to leave the airport in 2009," Saluthia told the gathering which was received by loud cheers. "We need to drive out Rohingyas from our land. If we can, we will get weapons and bombs. If they have courage to stop us, let them use police and CRPF to stop us,” Saluthia said before handing over the mic to another speaker.

At the heart of the ongoing agitation in Jammu is the mistrust cultivated for decades by the politicians of two culturally distinct regions. The seeds of hatred are sown so deep that it has almost created an unbridgeable gap between the two regions. The case of the 8-year-old girl in Kathua, like many similar attempts in recent years, has highlighted the divide between the two regions of the conflicted state; one, a Muslim majority area fighting for an independent homeland and a Hindu majority fighting for its total integration with India.

This is the divide that the father of incumbent chief minister, late Mufti Mohmmad Sayeed who died in office, envisioned to bridge by allying with a Hindu right wing party and allowing them to come to power. Today, the bringing together of "north pole and south pole" (Mufti’s own words), has become a taunt for his party and his daughter. “Every day we are bridging that gap between Kashmir and Jammu,” Ashok Kaul, the state spokesperson of the BJP, told Firspost. “These people who are protesting on the streets are the same people behind the miseries of this state.”

The spokesperson of the ruling PDP Rafi Mir said that the gap which exists between the two regions has to be bridged at every cost. “We have to make sure people in Jammu will respect their own institutions rather than seeking a probe by central agency,” Mir said. “Those people who are protesting on the streets are actually trying to communalise the incident,” he added.

The problem has reached to a level where the Chief Justice of Jammu and Kashmir High Court had to direct police to provide security to a woman lawyer, who is pursuing the case of the nomad girl, after she was threatened by members of her own community. Deepika Singh Rajawat, said she was threatened by the president of Bar Association Jammu, for defending the victim. She said he used derogatory language against her and threatened with “dire consequences”.

“Only a weak argument can led to this kind of threat,” 38-year-old Rajawat said.“They said if you don’t stop, you will be shown the way. They can do anything and I feel my life is at risk.”

The state Congress believes the strike call has no logic. G M Saroori, a senior Jammu and Kashmir Congress leader told Firstpost that there were forces inimical to peace among the protesters who want to start an agitation on the backs of the peace loving people of Jammu, and make it a Hindu versus Muslim issue. “The rape is a crime committed by maniacs and those involved, regardless of their religion, should not be spared,” he said

"I am appalled. I am ashamed, they should be ashamed. If she doesn't get justice it is slur on humanity,"Davinder Singh Rana, National Conference leader from Jammu told Firstpost. "They are using religion not only to defend the rapists but divide people too."</s>The trial in the brutal gangrape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir is slated to begin on Monday. The trial will be conducted against eight accused who allegedly held the minor girl in captivity in a village temple in Kathua district. The accused allegedly sedated the girl and sexually assaulted her before murdering her.

Since the accused include a juvenile, the chief judicial magistrate is expected to commit one of the chargesheets, naming seven of them, to the sessions court for trial. The trial for the juvenile will be held in the court of the CJM.

Meanwhile, a five-member committee of the Bar Council of India (BCI) will visit Kathua city in Jammu and Kashmir and submit a factual report on the case after seeking time from the Supreme Court on April 19. An announcement in this regard was made by BCI chief Manan Mishra on Sunday.

The fact-finding team will include former BCI chief Tarun Agarwal, BCI co-chairmen S Prabakaran and Ramachandra G Shah, and members Razia Beig of the Bar Council of Uttrakhand and Naresh Dikshit, an advocate.

They will visit the state and reach out to office-bearers of the Bar Associations of Jammu and Kathua and also meet the affected families and the common people to figure out what actually transpired, Mishra told reporters.

In a related development, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on Sunday accepted the resignations of two controversial BJP ministers Chandra Prakash Ganga and Lal Singh who had participated in a rally in support of the people arrested in connection with the recent rape and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in Kathua district.

The resignations of the two ministers were received from BJP state chief Sat Sharma this morning which were immediately accepted and forwarded to Governor NN Vohra for completing the procedural formalities, the J&K Chief Minister's office was quoted as saying.

An eight-year-old girl belonging to the nomadic community had gone missing on January 10 while grazing horses in Rasana forest in Kathua's Hiranagar area. Her body was found a week later. Police investigations revealed she was held captive inside a temple, sedated and repeatedly raped before her murder.</s>The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Jammu and Kashmir government to provide security to the family of the Kathua rape and murder victim. Hearing a plea filed by the victim’s father, the court also directed the state government to grant security to the lawyer of the victim’s father who has expressed fear that she may be “raped and murdered” for arguing for the infant’s family.

Besides, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also issued a notice to the state government on the victim’s father plea seeking order be passed to transfer the case outside the state. The court granted the state government time till April 27 to file its response. The notice was issued after senior lawyer Indira Jaising, appearing on behalf of the victim’s father, told the court that the situation in Jammu and Kashmir is not fit for a fair trial. “The atmosphere is not conducive to a fair trial. The atmosphere is highly polarised,” she said.

The lawyer added that the state police had done a good job and it not only arrested all the accused persons on evidence but also on a scientific basis. The victim’s father had moved the court seeking transfer of the trail outside the court, preferably to Chandigarh.

Deepika S Rajawat, counsel of the victim’s father, told reporters that the Supreme Court has issued directions to the authorities to provide protection to the girl’s family and their counsel.

Meanwhile, the trial in the case began today at the Kathua Sessions Court. All the eight arrested accused including a juvenile were produced before Kathua CJM AS Langeh. The court directed that copies of the chargesheet be given to all the accused and fixed April 28 as the next date of hearing. All the accused were taken to the court amid heightened security.

Speaking to reporters outside the court, Sanji Ram, the alleged mastermind of the crime, demanded that narco tests be conducted to ascertain the truth. Ankur Sharma, representing the accused in the court also said that his clients are ready for narco tests. Meanwhile, Sanji Ram’s daughter reiterated the demand that the probe be handed over to the CBI.

Meanwhile, a group of lawyers outside the Supreme Court today protested against the conduct of lawyers in Jammu and Kathua. The lawyers in the border state had held demonstration against the arrest of accused persons in the case and passed a resolution that they will not attend the court. Lawyers had even tried to obstruct the police from filing the chargesheet.

An eight-year-old girl was kidnapped on January 10 and held captive inside a temple in Rasana village of Kathua district. As per the chargesheet filed by the police in the case, the minor was drugged and raped repeatedly before being murdered. Her body was recovered on January 17 in the forest area.</s>Children take part in a protest against the rape of an eight-year-old girl, in Kathua, near Jammu and a teenager in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh state Thomson Reuters By Fayaz Bukhari

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - Eight men accused of involvement in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old Muslim girl in India's Jammu and Kashmir state appeared in court on Monday for the first hearing in a case that sparked nationwide outrage and criticism of the ruling party.

Disgust over the horrific crime led to protests in cities across India over the past few days, with anger fueled by support for the accused initially shown by ministers from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party.

The protests have also focused on another rape incident allegedly involving a BJP lawmaker in the crime-ridden, most populous, poor northern state of Uttar Pradesh.

More rallies demanding action against rapists and violence against women were expected on Monday in the capital and Ahmedabad, the state capital of Modi's home state of Gujarat.

The girl from a nomadic community that roam the forests of Kashmir was drugged, held captive in a temple and sexually assaulted for a week before being strangled and battered with a stone in January, the police said.

According to the charge sheet the kidnapping, rape and killing of the girl was part of a plan to drive the nomads out of Kathua district in Jammu, the mostly Hindu portion of India's only Muslim majority state.

The alleged ringleader, retired bureaucrat Sanji Ram, looked after a small Hindu temple where the girl had been held captive and assaulted. Two of the eight on trial were police officers who are accused of being bribed to stifle the investigation.

After the initial hearing on Monday, the judge adjourned the case until April 28.

Ahead of the trial, the lawyer representing the family of the victim said she had been threatened with rape and death for taking up her case, and requested for the trial to be held outside Jammu and Kashmir.

"I was threatened yesterday that 'we will not forgive you'. I am going to tell Supreme Court that I am in danger," said lawyer Deepika Singh Rawat who has fought for a proper investigation since the girl's body was found in January.

It was only when the charge sheet was finally filed last week, giving details of the horrendous crime, that Indians reacted en masse.

Two ministers from the BJP, which shares power in Jammu and Kashmir, were forced to resign after being pilloried for joining a rally in support of the accused men.

The national outrage over the Kathua case has drawn parallels with the massive protests that followed the gang rape and murder of a girl on a Delhi bus in 2012, which forced the then Congress-led government to enact tough new rape laws including the death penalty.

But activists say crimes of violence against women are often inadequately investigated, and in some cases accused with political connections have been protected. More incidents of child rape, including one in Surat in Gujurat, were reported over the weekend.

On Friday, Modi assured the country that the guilty would not be shielded, but he has been criticized for failing to speak out sooner.

Before leaving for an official visit to Europe this week, Modi received a letter from 50 former civil servants upbraiding the country's political leadership over its weak response.

"The bestiality and the barbarity involved in the rape and murder of an eight year old child shows the depths of depravity that we have sunk into," the letter said.

"In post-Independence India, this is our darkest hour and we find the response of our government, the leaders of our political parties inadequate and feeble."</s>Kathua rape and murder case will go to trial on Monday, with the eight accused who allegedly held an eight-year-old girl captive in a small village temple in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district for a week in January this year and sexually assaulted her before murdering, standing in the dock. The trials begin a day after protests were staged in various parts of the country by citizens outraged by the heinous crime and the other incidents of rape in Unnao and Surat. Among other places, protests were held at Delhi's Parliament Street and at Carter Road in Mumbai's Bandra area. Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had called for a special fast track court to complete the trial in 90 days.

The accused in the Kathua case include a juvenile, against whom a separate charge sheet was filed. The juveline and the other accused will be facing separate trials. While seven of the accused perpetrators will be tried in the sessions court, the chief judicial magistrate of Kathua will hold the trial for the juvenile. The accused include four police officers and a retired government official.

After the Jammu Bar association and the Kathua Bar received a rap on the kuckles by the Supreme Court on April 13, as the apex court took a strong note of certain lawyers obstructing the judicial process in the case, the is expected to be conducted smoothly. However, the Supreme Court's actions in the matter and the Indian civil society's demand for justice in the Kathua case have not eased the challenges faced by the lawyer of the victim's family. The Kathua rape victim's lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat on Sunday said that she feared for her life as she might get raped or murdered. She added that she had been called anti-Hindu and boycotted socially.

The charge sheets filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police's crime branch state that the abduction, rape, and killing of the minor Bakerwal girl was part of a carefully planned strategy aimed at forcing the minority nomadic community out of the area.

Meanwhile, as the is set to begin, a group of former civil servants on Sunday issued a strongly worded open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, holding him responsible "more than anyone else" for the "terrifying state of affairs" in the country. The letter asked Modi to check India's "free fall into anarchy" by taking tough action against the alleged perpetrators of the Kathua and Unnao rape cases and the perpetrators of other hate crimes across the country. Two Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers -- Chandra Prakash Ganga and Lal Singh -- have resigned following accusations of attending a rally in support of the alleged culprits of the crime. Furthermore, on Sunday, hundreds of people participated in a "Not In My Name" protest march at Parliament Street in the capital against the increasing incidents of rape and atrocities against Dalits and minorities. Thousands of Mumbaikars, including Bollywood celebrities, also gathered on Sunday for a peaceful protest over the incidents of rape in Kathua and Unnao.

Here are the top 10 developments in the Kathua rape and murder case ahead of the trials that begin today:

1) trial against eight accused begins today: The trials in the gruesome Kathua rape and murder case begin on Monday against the eight accused, including a juvenile against whom a separate charge sheet was filed. As mandated under the law, Kathua's chief judicial magistrate will be committing one of the charge sheets, which names seven people, to the sessions court for trial. However, the chief judicial magistrate will hold the juvenile's trial as it is the designated court under the juvenile act.

2) Sikh special public prosecutors appointed for Kathua rape case trial to ensure 'neutrality': Two special public prosecutors, both Sikhs, have been appointed by the Jammu and Kashmir government for the trial in the sensitive This move is being seen as an attempt to ensure "neutrality" in view of the Hindu-Muslim polarisation over the case. 

 



Read our earlier coverage on the developments here: Kathua rape: Ensure justice, UN to govt; BJP-PDP alliance under threat?

3) Who are the eight accused in the Kathua rape and murder case? The charge sheet filed by the crime branch lists Sanji Ram, the caretaker of a small temple called 'Devisthan' in a village in Kathua, 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 juvenile nephew, and his son Vishal Jangotra (alias Shamma) in commiting the crime. The charge sheet also names the investigating police officers -- head constable Tilak Raj and Sub-Inspector Anand Dutta -- for allegedly taking Rs 400,000 (Rs 4 lakh) from Ram and destroying crucial evidence in the Kathua case. All eight are under arrest.



4) Kathua rape victim's lawyer fears she may be killed or raped: The lawyer representing the Kathua rape victim's family, Deepika Singh Rajawat, on Sunday said that she fears for her life and that she may be raped or murdered. "Today, I don't know, I am not in my senses. I can be raped. I can be killed and may be they won't allow me to practice in court," said Advocate Rajawat, adding, "They (have) isolated me, I don't know how I can survive." She added that she has been labeled anti-Hindu and socially boycotted.

Further, Rajawat said that she would be approaching the Supreme Court to demand security for herself and her family. "I will tell this to the Supreme Court. I am feeling bad and it's really unfortunate. You can well imagine my plight," she said, adding, "But, I will stand for justice and we would seek justice for the eight-year-old girl."

 

 Read our earlier coverage on the Kathua and Unnao rape case developments here: Modi denounces Kathua, Unnao rapes; 2 BJP J&K ministers resign: Updates

5) 'Hang him, but only after CBI probe into Kathua rape case': Kathua rape and murder case alleged conspirator Sanji Ram's family members have said that he should be hanged publicly but only if a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the case finds him guilty. The family members also criticised the media for portraying their agitation demading a CBI probe into the case as "pro-rapists" and "pro-culprits". Ram's family members have been demanding an "impartial investigation by a credible agency" into the Kathua case. Sixteen women, who were on a fast demanding a CBI probe into the case, have been hospitalised in the past 15 days.

 

 Read the details of the Kathua rape and murder case trials that are set to begin today here: Trials in Kathua rape and murder case begin today against 8 accused

6) accused Sanji Ram's daughter asks how a father could call his son to rape a minor: One of alleged conspirators Sanji Ram's daughters questioned the crime branch's investigation, asking how could a father call his son for raping a minor girl -- as claimed in the charge sheet. "Can you imagine what this (statement in the crime branch's charge sheet) means? It is shameful that someone says an old man called his young son from his college in UP to rape a little girl," she said. Further, she claimed that the issue was being politicised and that her family's voice was being muzzled in a political war.

 

 ALSO READ: Another Kathua? 11-year-old found dead in Surat with 86 injury marks

7) Lawyers who stopped police from filing Kathua case charge sheet could face lifetime ban: A panel has been constituted to probe the actions of Jammu and Kashmir Bar Association lawyers who had stopped the police from filing a charge sheet in the Kathua rape and murder case, the Bar Council of India (BCI) said on Sunday. Amid nation-wide outrage and the Supreme Court taking cognisance of the matter, BCI chairman Manan Kumar Mishra said, "In the meeting, we decided that a five-member team will investigate the case. The team will go to Kathua and Jammu and talk to people about the conduct of the Bar Association." Further, Mishra said that a report based on the investigation will be submitted to the Supreme Court by April 19.

"If any lawyer is found guilty in the case, we have the rights to cancel their license for a lifetime," Mishra said. The BCI chairman also said that the bar association has been told to withdraw its strike.

Two first information reports (FIRs) have been filed in connection with the Kathua rape case: One against eight people for allegedly being involved in the crime and another against a group of lawyers, which had allegedly stopped the police from filing a charge sheet against the eight accused.

 

 ALSO READ: Kathua rape: Bar council forms team to probe case, Jammu lawyers' conduct

8) Bar Association of Kathua takes back offer to defend Kathua rape accused free of cost: The Bar Association of Kathua has retracted its earlier statement of providing legal assistance free of cost to the accused in the It said that after going through the charge sheet presented by the crime branch (against the accused in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate on April 9), it was revealed that the allegations against the accused persons are very grave and, as such, this case is to be dealt with in a professional way.

"As such, we have withdrawn our offer to contest the case free of cost. Accused are free to engage any individual advocate and exercise their respective rights of defence in the court. It is for any individual advocate to accept the brief and the bar association will not come in the way of defence nor the bar association will hamper the prosecution," Bar Association of Kathua President Kirty Bhushan Mahajan said in a seven-page statement.

Members of the same association had stopped crime branch personnel from submitting the charge sheet before the chief judicial magistrate for six hours, forcing the police to present it at the house of the magistrate. 

 



ALSO READ: JHCBA welcomes SC intervention in Kathua rape and murder case; says main demand was shifting of illegal settlers

9) Mehbooba Mufti wants special fast-track court to try Kathua rape case: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had written to the chief justice of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court requesting that a special fast-track court be set up to try the brutal Kathua rape and murder case. It would complete the trial in 90 days and would be the first such court in state, officials said.

Further, the state government decided to terminate from service the police personnel accused in the case. 

 



Read Mihir Sharma's opinion piece for Business Standard on crimes against women in India in the wake of the Kathua and Unnao rape cases: The rape cases of 2012 & 2018 that shook the nation

10) Protests in Delhi and Mumbai seek justice for Kathua and Unnao rape case victims: Outraged by th Kathua and Unnao rape cases, hundreds of people on Sunday participated in a protest march called "Not In My Name" at Parliament Street in the capital against the increasing incidents of rape and atrocities on Dalits and minorities. The protest included artistes and students, who vented their anger over the incidents and claimed that Muslims in the country were living in fear. They said the rights of Dalits and Adivasis were being questioned.

The participants at the "Not In My Name" protest also sought the immediate arrest of the two BJP ministers who led rallies of the Hindu Ekta Manch in Kathua on March 1 in support of the accused in the rape and killing of the eight-year-old girl.

Bollywood celebrities, along with thousands of Mumbaikars, gathered on Sunday for a peaceful protest against the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua and the sexual assault of another young girl in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. Bollywood celebrities like Rajkummar Rao, Patralekha, Sameera Reddy, Twinkle Khanna, along with her son Arav, Akshay Kumar, actress Tara Sharma, music director Vishal Dadlani, singer and social activist Sona Mohapatra, filmmaker Kiran Rao, Aditi Rao Hydari, and veteran actress Helen were among many others who came on the streets of Bandra to protest against the incidents of rape and seek justice.</s>With the trial in the Kathua gangrape and murder case beginning today, the Jammu and Kashmir Sessions court will hear the case against eight accused including a juvenile who allegedly held an 8-year-old girl in captivity in January. The girl, belonging to the Bakherwal community, was held in a small village temple in Kathua district for a week during which she was sedated and sexually assaulted before being bludgeoned to death.

In view of the Hindu-Muslim polarisation over the case, the Jammu and Kashmir government has appointed two special public prosecutors, both Sikhs, to ensure “neutrality” in the sensitive case. The trial is expected to go smoothly after the Supreme Court on April 13 took strong note of the attempt by a group of lawyers in Kathua obstructing the judicial process in the case and sought explanations from the Bar Council of India, Jammu and Kashmir Bar Council, Jammu High Court Bar Association and Kathua District Bar Association.

The incident has drawn huge criticism and anger from across the country with people demanding justice for the minor. Two state BJP ministers– who had participated in a rally in support of the accused– have resigned and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has forwarded their letters to Governor NN Vohra for acceptance.
Eight people, including a juvenile and a caretaker for a local temple, go on trial in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, accused of abducting an eight-year-old girl, keeping her captive, sexually abusing her, and murdering her in a high-profile case that has already been the subject of nationwide protests and pretrial Supreme Court proceedings.