New Delhi: A court on Monday sentenced three men to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district last year, a lawyer for the defence said, in a case that sparked outrage across the country. Three other men also convicted in the case were given a five-year prison sentence, lawyer Vinod Mahajan told reporters outside the courtroom in Pathankot. The girl, from a nomadic Muslim community, was drugged, held captive and sexually assaulted for a week before being strangled and battered to death with a stone in January 2018.
Here are the Highlights on Kathua case:
Jun 10, 2019 17:36 (IST)
Rekha Sharma, National Commission for Women Chairperson, quoted by news agency ANI: "Was expecting capital punishment for Kathua rape and murder criminals. Jammu and Kashmir government must go for appeal in higher court".
Jun 10, 2019 17:33 (IST)
The Supreme Court had shifted the Kathua trial to Punjab after the girl's family and their lawyer complained of death threats. On Monday hundreds of police were on duty in Pathankot for the trial. Wary of new protests, security was also heavy in Kathua and surrounding Muslim areas, although no incidents were reported.
Jun 10, 2019 17:22 (IST)
Tilak Raj, Anand Dutt and Surinder Kumar - convicted for destruction of evidence - have been given 5 years of imprisonment each.
Jun 10, 2019 17:07 (IST)
Besides Sanji Ram, the others convicted in the case are, his friend Parvesh Kumar, two special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma, Head Constable Tilak Raj and Sub-Inspector Anand Dutta. The cops were accused of destroying evidence.
Jun 10, 2019 17:04 (IST)
The girl, who belonged to a Muslim nomadic tribe, was kidnapped on January 10 last year and held captive at a village temple in Kathua. She was drugged, starved and repeatedly raped for days. Finally, she was strangled and her head was bashed in with a rock. One of the accused allegedly begged to rape her one last time before she was killed.
Jun 10, 2019 16:53 (IST)
Two men convicted in the Kathua rape and murder case have been awarded a five-year jail term.
Jun 10, 2019 16:52 (IST)
Three persons convicted of an eight-year-old girl's rape and murder have been sentenced to life in jail. Six men were found guilty of the girl's gang-rape, torture and killing in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua in January last year, which shocked and disturbed the entire country and led to street protests calling for justice for the child.
Jun 10, 2019 12:44 (IST)
Guilty deserve severe punishment: Omar Abdullah
National Conference leader Omar Abdullah tweeted, "Amen to that. The guilty deserve the most severe punishment possible under law. And to those politicians who defended the accused, vilified the victim & threatened the legal system no words of condemnation are enough."