The Supreme Court has sought the Jammu and Kashmir government's reply on a plea, filed by the father of the eight year old girl who was brutally raped and murdered in Kathua, seeking transfer of the trial to Chandigarh. A bench consisting of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, asked the state to provide security to two lawyers who are assisting the victim's family. It also said that it was not concerned at the current stage about demands for transferring the investigation from the state police to CBI.
“Ordinarily, police is the authority for investigation. A case has to be made out that it is not going in the right manner. In the absence of that, as presently advised, we are not entering into that,” the bench told Senior Advocate and National Panthers Party chief patron Bhim Singh. Considering notes of submission regarding Talib Hussain and Deepika S Rajawat, two lawyers who apprehended threats to their lives, the court asked the state government to provide security to them. It also directed that protection to victim Asifa Bano's family also be continued.
“As an interim measure, it is directed that the respondent state shall keep the security, as provided to the family members of the victim, in continuity; provide security to Ms Deepika Singh Rajawat and her family members; and that protection shall be provided to Talib Hussain, who is assisting the victim's family in prosecution of the grievance by remaining present in the Court or engaging counsel to assist the public prosecutor,” the court ordered.
Appearing on behalf of Amjad Ali, Asifa's father, advocate Indira Jaising has said the trial in the case should be transferred to Chandigarh as “the atmosphere” in Kathua is “highly polarised”. She said there was interference from the lawyers. A female police officer who was part of the investigation, said the Hindu lawyers had obstructed filing of chargesheet and that she was asked to give up the case she submitted. Jaising said there was “direct attack on the counsel of the father.”
On demands that the case be transferred to the CBI, the SC said, “We will not go by this... We will go by basic rules of fair trial and victim protection.” Jaising said the Jammu & Kashmir police had done an “excellent job” in the investigation. “Every accused had been identified visually and scientifically.”
Asifa's case is one of hundreds; Her story however, is worse. The eight year old went missing from near her home in the forests in Kathua region of Jammu & Kashmir, on January 10. Her body was found in the area a week later, her sight that would melt the strongest of hearts. The young one was found to be gang-raped by a group of seven local Hindu men, who believed raping a Muslim eight year old was the right way to take revenge. The J&K police crime branch which probed the case, filed a charge-sheet against seven people, and a separate charge-sheet against a juvenile in a court in the district.
Religion blindsides humanity
The charge-sheet describes how Asifa, of the nomadic Muslim Bakarwal community, was abducted on January 10, when she was grazing her horses near her one-room home. She was held in a temple run by local villain Sanji Ram. His son Vishal Jangotra, friend of juvenile Parvesh Kumar, sub-inspector Anand Dutta, head constable Tilak Raj, and two special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surinder Kumar are the ones charged. Jangotra, who was in Meerut for studies, travelled to Jammu on a single phone call, to satisfy his lust by defiling an eight year old child.
Both, the juvenile and Khajuria strangled the girl on January 14, and to ensure she is dead, Kumar bashed her head in twice with a stone. Both the men delayed the murder to rape her one last time. The body was found in the forests on January 17. Dutta and Raj helped the case by destroying evidence over bribes.
Nation's another daughter raped by BJP MLA
Ironically, a BJP MLA was arrested around the same time the Kathua matter came to light, for raping a minor whose father died after being thrashed by his men. Lucknow BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar has been sent to seven-day police custody, after he was produced before a Lucknow Court. He was arrested after the Allahabad High Court ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to “arrest, not detain” the MLA. The court said it would monitor the probe and ask authorities to submit a progress report in the matter by May 2.
The HC took a strong objection to the Uttar Pradesh government's submission that Sengar would not be arrested on mere registration of the FIR, saying the approach is “not only appalling, but shocks the conscience of the court in the backdrop of the instant case.” The CBI has also made a second arrest in the case, taking Shashi Singh into custody. The woman allegedly took the victim to Sengar's residence where he raped her. In her complaint to the UP Police, the victim's mother has also alleged that Shashi stood outside the room as a guard while the man raped her daughter.
Following a massive public outrage over inaction of the UP police, the case was handed over to the CBI on April 12. The agency took over investigation in three cases related to the alleged rape of the 17 year old girl. It took immediate action by re-registering FIRs filed by the police. The first FIR pertains to the alleged rape of the girl in which Sengar and Shashi are named as accused, and the second speaks of rioting, in which four locals have been booked and the alleged killing of the victim's father in judicial custody.
The unnamed victim alleges that she was raped by Sengar on June 4, 2017, at his residence when she had gone to meet him along with a relative seeking a job.
The girl's family had moved the court in February, seeking to include the MLA's name in the case. Following that, the victim's father was booked by the police under the Arms Act on April 3 and put in jail on April 5. Frustrated with the alleged police inaction and coercion from influential people, the minor attempted self-immolation in front of Chief Minister Adityanath's residence on April 8. Her father died in jail the next day, with the post-mortem report citing serious injuries to his body.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said the country was ashamed by both the cases, promising that no culprit will be spared.
Virendra Sharma MP speaks on Asifa case
“The appalling and shocking rape and murder of Asifa was a barbaric act, and those guilty of this crime deserve to face the harshest punishments they can receive under law. The crime these people are accused of is inhuman and has no legitimacy in any religion and those defending it under the guise of religion are perverting religion and represent no one. I call upon the state of Jammu and Kashmir to use this trial as opportunity to demonstrate that all citizens can rely on the Indian judicial system to deliver fair and appropriate justice, free from political interference,” he said.
