Written by
Muzamil Jaleel | New Delhi |
Updated: April 11, 2018 7:06:49 am
On Monday, lawyers tried to stop filing of chargesheet.
THE
EIGHT-YEAR-OLD was gangraped thrice inside the Devasthan or prayer
hall, after the mastermind had “performed rituals”. One of the rapists
was called from Meerut to “satisfy his lust”. The girl was confined
using sedatives, then strangled and hit on the head twice with a stone —
“in order to make sure” she was dead. But not before another accused, a
police personnel, asked the others to “wait because he wanted to rape”
her one last time.
And all this, to “dislodge” a group of Bakherwal Muslim nomads from Rasana village in Kathua near Jammu.
These
are just some of the chilling details in the 18-page chargesheet filed
Monday by J&K Police’s Crime Branch against the eight accused in the
rape and murder of the girl who went missing from near her house in
Rasana on January 10 — her body was found seven days later in the
forests nearby.
In
the days that followed, the chargesheet states, the accused paid Rs 1.5
lakh as a bribe to local policemen who knew where the girl was kept and
helped cover up the crime initially.
The
killing had sparked outrage across J&K with the government handing
over the case to the Crime Branch following protests from the Bakherwal
community. The case took a communal turn in Kathua, where an outfit
called Hindu Ekta Manch was set up by politicians in support of the
accused. Among those who backed the Manch were Lal Singh and Chander
Prakash Ganga, two BJP ministers in Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti’s
Cabinet.
The storeroom where the victim was allegedly kept, in Kathua near Jammu. (Express Photo: Nirupama Subramanian)
According
to the chargesheet, the mastermind behind the rape and murder is
retired revenue official Sanji Ram who is among the eight arrested,
along with his son Vishal Jangotra and nephew, believed to be a
juvenile.
The
Crime Branch had also arrested Special Police Officers (SPOs) Deepak
Khajuria and Surinder Kumar, a Rasana resident Parvesh Kumar, Assistant
Sub Inspector Anand Dutta and Head Constable Tilak Raj in the case.
Dutta and Raj were arrested on charges of attempting to destroy
evidence.
According
to the chargesheet, the girl’s father Mohd Yousuf lodged a complaint on
January 12 at the Hiranagar station that his daughter who “had gone for
grazing horses in the nearby forest at about 1230 hrs on January 10”
had not returned. A FIR was lodged and police arrested Ram’s nephew,
leading to allegations of a cover-up by the Bakherwal community. On
January 22, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch.
The
chargesheet states that Ram masterminded the conspiracy to kidnap and,
later rape and kill the girl. It states that he made SPO Khajuria and
the juvenile a “part of the conspiracy and assigned them tasks
separately and individually”.
“…Deepak
along with his friend Vikram went to Bitu Medical shop at Kottah Morh
on January 7 evening and purchased one strip of Epitril 0.5 mg
containing 10 tablets by showing the prescription of his uncle, who has a
psychiatric problem and is under treatment. Although the medicine as
per the prescription was not available with Bitu, he gave him Epitril
0.05 mg instead of the medicine written on the prescription,’’ the
chargesheet states.
On
the same day, it says, Ram asked his nephew to “kidnap” the girl who
“often comes to the forests behind their house for grazing her horses”.
Subsequently, the juvenile “shared the entire plan” worked out by Ram
and Khajuria with “Parvesh Kumar@Mannu, his close friend, and asked for
his help”.
On
January 10, the juvenile saw the girl asking about her horses. He told
her that “he had seen her horses and led her to the jungle”. “He also
called accused Mannu. Sensing some trouble, the victim tried to flee but
the juvenile stopped her by catching hold of her neck and covered her
mouth with one of his hands and pushed her and she fell on the ground,”
the chargesheet says.
“The
victim fell unconscious and was raped by the juvenile (in the jungle).
Thereafter, Mannu also attempted to rape her. They took her and kept her
inside the Devasthan under the table over two plastic mats and then
covered her,” it says.
On
the next day, the chargesheet says, the “parents of the girl reached
the Devasthan and enquired from… Ram about the whereabouts of her
missing daughter who told them that she may have gone to some relative’s
house”.
The
prayer hall where the girl had been confined was kept locked by Ram. On
the same day, according to the chargesheet, “Khajuria and the juvenile
opened the Devasthan and again sedated the girl by pushing sedatives
into her mouth and forced her to drink water subsequently”.
“On
January 11, the juvenile informed another accused Vishal Jangotra about
the kidnapping of the girl telephonically and asked him to return from
Meerut in case he wanted to satisfy his lust,’’ the chargesheet says.
On
January 12, it says, Jangotra reached Rasana at 6 am. “At around 8.30
am, the juvenile again went to the Devasthan and administered 3 sedative
tablets to the girl while she was unconscious with empty stomach,’’ the
chargesheet says.
By
now, it says, a police party from the Hiranagar station, including
Khajuria, had started searching for the girl. “Khajuria…came to the
house of accused Sanji Ram with another police official namely Iftikar
Wani… Khajuria advised the juvenile to ensure administering of sedatives
to the victim in time,’’ the chargesheet says.
“During
investigation it transpired that the accused Ram had already taken the
accused police officials into confidence and settled the deal with
them,” it says.
The
chargesheet says that Head Constable Raj, who was part of the search
party, had asked Ram to bribe the police team. On January 12, Ram sent
Rs 1.5 lakh to Raj through the juvenile’s mother, it says.
On
January 13, the chargesheet says, “…accused Vishal Jangotra, the
juvenile and accused Ram went to the Devasthan where Ram performed
rituals”. Later, it says, Jangotra “raped the nomad girl. Thereafter,
the juvenile also raped the girl”.
After
keeping the girl in the prayer hall for days, the chargesheet says, Ram
told the other accused that it was time to kill her and “dump her
(body) in the forest”.
“…the
accused Mannu, Vishal and juvenile took the victim from the Devasthan
to a nearby culvert… accused Khajuria told the juvenile to wait as he
wanted to rape the girl before she is killed,’’ the chargesheet says.
Describing
the murder, the chargesheet states: “After committing the barbaric act
of rape on the minor victim, the accused Khajuria kept her neck on his
left thigh and started applying force with his hands on her neck in
order to kill her… Khajuria was unsuccessful in killing her, the
juvenile killed her by pressing his knees against her back while
strangulating the girl by applying force on both the ends of her chunni.
Thereafter, the accused, in order to make sure that the victim is dead,
hit her twice on head with a stone.’’
The
body was dumped inside the prayer hall as the accused couldn’t find a
vehicle to transport it. On January 15, the chargsheet says, Ram
“directed” the other accused to “throw the body in the jungle’’.
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