The Jammu Police on Monday filed chargesheets against seven people, accused in the rape and murder of eight-year-nomadic girl, despite attempts by lawyers and some civil society members to disrupt the process.
''The chargesheets against the seven accused have been filed,'' J&K Director General of Police S.P. Vaid told THE WEEK. ''The chargesheet against another accused, a minor, will be filed tomorrow,” he added.
The seven accused also include two Special Police Officials (SPOs) and a head constable. SPO Deepak Khajuria alias Depu, 28, was arrested after a special investigation team (SIT) of the Crime Branch found incriminating evidence, linking him to the crime.
Head constable Tilak Raj was arrested after he was found guilty of washing the blood and mud stained clothes of the victim in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Sani Ram, 60, a retired government employee, surrendered before police after his name figured in the list of suspects in the case. He had fled to Uttar Pradesh to evade arrest. Before his arrest, his son was also arrested for his involvement in the case.
The development happened on a day when Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi to discuss the situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
The murder has strained relations between the ruling coalition partners—the PDP and the BJP.
The BJP legislators fear the conviction of the accused in the case could enrage their supporters, some of who have rallied behind the accused, and demanded that the case be handed over to the CBI.
Some civil society members and lawyers too demanded that the case be handed over the CBI, claiming that they do have faith in the Crime Branch.
The High Court Bar Association of Jammu (BAJ) and civil society groups have called for Jammu bandh on April 11 to push their demand for handing over the case to the CBI.
The BJP legislators also lobbied with the government to transfer the case to the CBI, but the chief minister, who also heads the state's home department, refused to oblige.
The victim's body was recovered from the jungle at Rasana of Hiranagar in Kathua on January 17, seven days after she went missing from the home at Kota.
Investigations by the police revealed that minor was abducted and kept at a religious place, raped and then murdered in order to scare the nomads living in the area and force them to migrate.
Former chief minister Omar Abdullah condemned the attempts by lawyers to disrupt the filing of chargesheet.
''Shame on them & their political masters. An 8 year old girl is raped & murdered and these so called lawyers do not want to see justice delivered,” tweeted Omar.