Kathua rape-and-murder case verdict tomorrow
Pathankot (Punjab), Jun 9: The verdict in the case of rape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir will be delivered by a special court here on Monday.
The in-camera trial in the case that shook the nation ended on June 3, when district and sessions judge Tejwinder Singh had announced that the verdict was likely to be delivered on June 10.
Elaborate security arrangements have been made in and around the court and in Kathua in view of the pronouncement of the judgement, officials said Sunday.
The situation will be monitored closely, they said.
According to the 15-page charge sheet, the eight-year-old girl, who was kidnapped on January 10 last year, was allegedly raped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district after having been kept sedated for four days before she was bludgeoned to death.
The day-to-day trial commenced in the first week of June last year at the district and sessions court in Pathankot in neighbouring state of Punjab, about 100 km from Jammu and 30 km from Kathua, after the Supreme Court ordered that the case be shifted out of Jammu and Kashmir.
The apex court order came after lawyers in Kathua prevented Crime Branch officials from filing a charge sheet in the sensational case, which shocked the nation.
The prosecution team in the case comprised J K Chopra, S S Basra and Harminder Singh.
The Crime Branch arrested village head Sanji Ram, his son Vishal, juvenile nephew and his friend Anand Dutta, and two special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma. Head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Dutta, who allegedly took Rs 4 lakh from Sanji Ram and destroyed crucial evidence, were also arrested.
Charges of rape and murder were framed by the district and sessions judge against seven out of the eight accused. The trial against the juvenile is yet to begin as his petition on determining his age is to be heard by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
The court framed charges under the Ranbir Penal Code(RPC), including Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 376-D (gang-rape), according to the prosecution.
The accused, if convicted, face minimum life imprisonment and maximum death penalty.
The court also framed charges of destruction of evidence and causing hurt by poisoning under Section 328 of the RPC. The two policemen - Raj and Datta - were also charged under Section 161 (public servant taking illegal gratification) of the RPC.
All the accused, barring the juvenile, were shifted to Gurdaspur jail following an intervention by the Supreme Court which also restricted appearance of the defence lawyers and limited it to one or maximum of two per accused.
The charge sheet said the girl had gone missing while grazing horses. Investigators said the accused juvenile had abducted the girl under the pretext of helping her find her horses.
The abduction, rape and killing of the child was part of a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area, it said.
The case had become a bone of contention between the then ruling alliance partners PDP and the BJP after two ministers of the saffron party, Chowdhury Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga, participated in a rally organised by the Hindu Ekta Manch in support of the accused arrested by the state crime branch.
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BJP offering Rs 100 cr each to Cong MLAs to topple govt, alleges ruling party MLA Ravi
Mandya (Karnataka) (PTI): Days after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claimed that the BJP was offering Rs 50 crore to Congress lawmakers to defect, in a bid to topple his government, a ruling party MLA on Monday alleged that it has been raised to Rs 100 crore by the opposition party.
Claiming that Kittur MLA Babasaheb D Patil and Chikkamagaluru MLA H D Thammaiah are among those contacted by the saffron party, Congress MLA from Mandya Ravikumar Gowda (Ravi Ganiga) said, he has "documents and evidence" to prove that the BJP was attempting to lure the ruling party legislators.
However, both Patil and Thammaiah have clarified that they were not contacted or offered money or anything by the BJP or anyone.
The BJP has challenged the Congress and its MLA to release documents and "ensure" a probe.
"...BJP should give up the attempts to dislodge the government, buying MLAs. None of our MLAs will fall for 'Operation Kamala.' We have documents and evidence to prove their attempts, we will release it before the media at an appropriate time soon," Ravi told reporters.
"As allegations after allegations against BJP are coming out, its leaders are worried about going to jail, so they somehow want to form the government. They want to dislodge this government from the money they had made during the previous government, also there are funds from the Centre. JD(S) too has joined them," he alleged.
Alleging that BJP plans to lure about 50 MLAs and thereby wants to bring down the government, the Congress MLA said, none of them will switch sides, as they all were staunch Congressmen.
"Offer was made to 50 legislators, also they had said 30 will be made ministers...they say they don't want anything other than their party government...all kinds of offers were made....As MLAs are not falling for Rs 50 crore, they have now come to Rs 100 crore (offer), they are not worried about Rs 50 or 100 crore, they somehow want to form the government," he said.
Documents and evidence are there in both audio and videos, Ravi further claimed. "Who spoke to whom at which airport or hotel or guest house all are there....after releasing the documents at the earliest, I will meet the CM and request for action....I have already brought things to the notice of the CM."
Home Minister G Parameshwara, reacting to the claims, said "everyone is well aware that there is no value for crores now and any amount can be quoted, but it is true that such attempts are on and BJP is known for it."
"BJP is expert in 'Operation Kamala.' They have done it in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa, Madhya Pradesh...they are in such talks in the state. Though the exact amount cannot be quoted, an estimated Rs 50 crore is being offered...it is going on, CM himself has said it," he said.
To a question on BJP and JD(S) asking the government to form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the allegations, the Home Minister said: "if necessary it will be done....if such a situation arises it will be done."
BJP leader and Union Minister Pralhad Joshi challenged the Congress to release the audio and video they claim to possess, and ensure a probe.
"To divert the attention, the Congress indulges in such things, because CM Siddaramaiah is caught (in MUDA case)....let them release documents as to who offered crores of money, the Government of India will take actions against them....release documents, investigation should happen," he added.
In the previous Assembly, some Congress MLAs had resigned and come to BJP and they were sent by their party and Siddaramaiah, to ensure that H D Kumaraswamy did not continue as CM of the Congress-JD(S) coalition government, Joshi alleged and said, "as they (Congress) had no moral rights to rule, BJP inducted the MLAs who defected and formed the government."
In the 2023 polls, people have given the Congress a clear mandate, he said. "Our party's (BJP) clear stand is to function as a constructive opposition. To hide their lapses and failures they (Congress) are making such absurd allegations without any documents."
