"Most Brutal" Accused In 8-Year-Old Girl's Rape In Jammu's Kathua To Be Tried As Adult

Four years after the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl in Kathua, the main accused in the ghastly crime will face trial as an adult.

The Supreme Court today ordered that the main accused, Shubam Sangra, should be tried as an adult and not a juvenile.

Justice Ajay Rastogi and Justice JB Pardiwala overruled the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, which had upheld a trial court decision that Sangra was a juvenile.

There was a controversy over the actual age of the main accused, since there was no authentic proof of his age.

A medical board formed on the directions of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court in March 2018 conducted an age determination test and found him to be above 19 and not 15-year-old as reported by his family.

But the trial court in Kathua ordered that the main accused should be tried as a juvenile and not an adult.

Later, the Jammu and Kashmir High Court too upheld the decision of the magistrate's court, despite the findings of the medical board formed on its directions.

Eventually, a Juvenile Justice Board started proceedings against the accused, triggering outrage.

The Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory Administration appealed against the judgement, and the case was paused by the Supreme Court in February 2020.

According to the Crime Branch which investigated the Kathua rape and murder, Shubam Sangra was the "most brutal" after the 8-year-old was kidnapped and repeatedly raped inside a temple at Rasana village in Kathua.

The gut-wrenching crime was committed to strike fear and drive the nomad community out of Kathua. The girl was drugged, held captive, repeatedly raped and then murdered.

On January 10, 2018, the 8-year-old herding horses went missing. On January 17, her body was found in a jungle, mutilated.

As the Crime Branch arrested the accused in the case, several political leaders including some ministers in BJP-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) government, lawyers and civil society groups in Jammu rallied behind the accused.

A group of lawyers in Kathua even tried to prevent the Crime Branch from filing chargesheet before the court.

It was following intervention by the Supreme Court that the trial was transferred to Pathankot.

In June 2019, the court held six of the seven accused guilty of conspiracy, rape and murder of the nomad girl. One accused was acquitted on the benefit of the doubt.

But the main accused, Shubam Sangra could not be tried with others arrested in the case because of controversy over his age and the subsequent decision by Chief Judicial Magistrate Kathua that he should be tried as a juvenile.

The Supreme Court today ruled that medical evidence has proved that the accused was an adult at the time of gang rape and murder, and the medical opinion will be considered conclusive evidence in the absence of any other proof.

After the top court's order, officials say, Shubam Sangra will now stand trial as an adult after evading it on the pretext of being a minor for four years.