Kathua Rape-Murder Case: Temple Priest, Village Head Main Accused; Shocking Crucial Evidences!

It was a big day for the country, where Kathua Rape-Murder Case verdict was to be announced. At around 2:00 pm, the special court in Pathankot on Monday convicted six out of seven people accused in the horrifying case. The verdict was announced one year after the incident occurred.

As per NDTV reports, three of the six convicts have been sentenced to a life term. Former government officer Sanji Ram, who was believed to be the mastermind, was among those sentenced to life in jail by a special fast-track court in Pathankot. His son is the only one let off, over lack of evidence. While, two policemen have been sentenced to five years in jail.  

There was massive country-wide outrage following the incident where the nomadic minor girl was kidnapped on January 10, 2018 and allegedly raped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district after being kept sedated for four days. She was drugged, starved and repeatedly raped for days. Finally, she was strangled and her head was bashed in with a rock. NDTV reports further state that, one of the accused allegedly begged to rape her one last time before she was killed.

According to India Today reports, the temple priest and village head Sanji Ram, the main accused in the case, was convicted with 5 others including two special police officers and a police constable. The others who were convicted include Sanji Ram's juvenile nephew and two special police officers, identified as Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma.

The other convicts in the case are Head Constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Datta, who allegedly took Rs 4 lakh from Sanji Ram and destroyed crucial evidence, India Today further reported.

All the accused were arrested for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua region.

Media reports say that, Sanji Ram's son Vishal was acquitted of all charges in the case as he was able to successfully produce an alibi to prove his innocence.

All the six accused have been convicted under three sections including Ranbir Penal Codes' (RPC) Sections 201 (destroying evidence), 376 (gang rape) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

Earlier, the Supreme Court had on May 7, 2018 transferred the case from Kathua to Pathankot in Punjab and the in-camera trial in the case ended on June 3. The day-to-day trial commenced in the first week of June last year at the district and sessions court in Pathankot in 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 girl's body was found on January 17 and autopsy confirmed gang rape and murder.