Trial Of Main Accused In Kathua Rape-And-Murder Case To Resume Today

The trial of the main accused in the 2018 rape-and-murder of an 8-year-old in Kathua will resume at the District Sessions Court in Punjab's Pathankot today.

In November last year, the Supreme Court had ordered that Shubam Sangra be tried as an adult and not a juvenile. It had set aside the orders of the Kathua Chief Judicial Magistrate and the Jammu And Kashmir High Court.

For four years, Sangra had evaded trial as an adult following claims and counter-claims over his age even though a medical board in Jammu had declared him an adult in March 2018.

The prosecution said not much headway is expected in the case today due to summer vacation in the court, and it is likely to be listed for the next hearing in July.

Last year, the Supreme Court had ruled that medical evidence had proved Sangra was an adult at the time of commission of offence, and the medical opinion will be considered as conclusive evidence in the absence of any other proof.

According to investigations by the Crime Branch in Jammu and Kashmir, Sangra was the "most brutal" during the captivity, rape and murder of the nomad girl.

Seven other accused involved in the crime, which took place in January 2018, have already been convicted.

The girl, who was herding horses had gone missing on January 10, 2018 and her mutilated body was found in a jungle on January 17. 

As the Crime Branch began making arrests, several political leaders, including some ministers in the then BJP-Peoples Democratic Party government, lawyers and civil society groups in Jammu had rallied behind the accused.

A group of lawyers in Kathua had even tried to prevent the Crime Branch from filing a chargesheet, and the case was transferred to Pathankot after the Supreme Court's intervention.