Jammu and Kashmir police said that ''on the strength of the opinion furnished by medical experts, it has been confirmed beyond doubt that the victim, an eight-year-old Bakarwal girl, was found subjected to sexual assault by the accused, and information published and broadcast by a section of print and electronic media, shared on social media as well, are far from truth''.
The statement comes in the wake of some media reports and social media posts that said that the minor girl was not raped. The girl had gone missing on January 10 while grazing horses in the forest. Her body was found a week later.
The police spokesman said: ''After completing all legal formalities of the investigation, a charge-sheet was produced in the court and the investigating agency is in the process of submitting a supplementary charge-sheet''.
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“Constrained by this reportage, it is to place on record that on the strength of opinion furnished by medical experts, it has been confirmed that the victim was found subjected to sexual assault by the accused,'' he said. ''The medical expert has also opined that hymen of the victim was not found intact.”
The spokesman said that on the basis of the medical opinion, section 376D of the IPC was added in the case.
“In addition to this, medical opinion has established beyond doubt that the victim was held in captivity and administered sedatives and her cause of death was asphyxia leading to the cardiopulmonary arrest,” the spokesman said.
The Hindu Ekta Manch, backed by the BJP and other political parties and Jammu Bar Association has sought a CBI probe into the incident.
The Manch and Bar have questioned the presence of Muslim officers in the Special Investigation Team of J&K Police's Crime Branch that investigated the incident.
They held rallies demanding the case be handed over to the CBI. The state government, however, has refused to budge. Two senior BJP leaders who participated in the Manch rally on March 1 were forced to resign after they were severely criticised for supporting a pro-rapist rally.
The incident has triggered a countrywide protest demanding justice for the minor girl.