Deepika Singh Rajawat, the lawyer who shot to fame by seeking justice for the eight-year-old Bakerwal girl in Kathua who was raped and killed in January, claims she was sidelined from the case because the victim's parents were “misguided” by some people. On Wednesday, news agencies reported Rajawat had been removed by the Kathua victim's family as their lawyer.
''I spoke to the person who filed an application to remove me,'' Rajawat told THE WEEK. “He told me he was asked by lawyers to do it,” Rajawat claimed. She said the person who filed the application named Indira Jaising and Mubeen Farooqi, a public counsel in the case that is being heard in Pathankot on a fast-track basis. Rajawat claimed Farooqi was not a public prosecutor and had appeared only three or four times in the court.
“My apprehensions have come true. I knew something was going against me,” Rajawat said. “They have created an embarrassing situation for me.”
Rajawat rejected claims she had not appeared for the family during the Kathua case trial. “State cases are handled by the authorised public prosecutors within the provisions of the CRPC. The private counsel has nothing to do with the state cases,'' Rajawat said. “Those who are fighting this case are state counsels. I am not,” Rajawat argued.
“I am helping the family behind the scenes wherever [possible],” Rajawat declared. She said she did her utmost for securing justice for the Kathua victim. “My practice suffered and I was not able to give time for my [other] cases,” Rajawat said. She said she had suffered financially also. “This case for me was pro bono,” she said. “If I had gone to Pathankot regularly, then my work would suffer. Which is why I could not afford to participate in the trial proceedings,” Rajawat argued.
Despite the development, Rajawat was optimistic about the Kathua trial. “The trial is proceeding well and nearing the climax,” she said, adding, “I keep myself updated about the case by staying in touch with the lawyers.”
Rajawat declared her work was for the “poor” victim of Kathua and if she had earned fame as a result of it, then it was “God-given”.
