The J&K Police Crime Branch had concluded that the 8-year-old girl belonging to Bakerwal community in Kathua’s Rasana village was murdered and raped in January 2018 as part of a conspiracy to “dislodge” the nomadic community from the village.
The main convict in the Kathua gangrape and murder case and former revenue official on Friday appealed his conviction before the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which admitted the appeal and ordered that the appeals of all the six convicts be listed on July 18 for argument hearing.
He along with other two accused were sentenced to life imprisonment by a Pathankot court on June 10. He has contended that there is no “admissible evidence” to fulfill the chain of circumstances to establish the motive. The J&K Police Crime Branch had concluded that the 8-year-old girl belonging to Bakerwal community in Kathua’s Rasana village was murdered and raped in January 2018 as part of a conspiracy to “dislodge” the nomadic community from the village.
Last month, six out of the seven accused were held guilty by the trial court, a year and six months after the case. “Admitted. Recovery of fine shall remain suspended during the pendency of the appeal,” said a division bench comprising Justices Rajiv Sharma and Harinder Singh Sindhu in the order on Friday.
Source: The Indian Expresss
