Kathua rape case
The Kathua rape case involved the abduction, gang rape, and murder of an 8-year-old girl, Asifa Bano, by six men and a juvenile, in January 2018 in the Rasana village near Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, India. A chargesheet for the case was filed, the accused were arrested and the trial began in Kathua on 16 April 2018. The victim belonged to the nomadic Bakarwal community. She disappeared for a week before her body was discovered by the villagers a kilometer away from the village. The incident made national news when charges were filed against eight men in April 2018. The arrests of the accused led to protests by the Panthers Party and other local groups, who sought justice for the victim. A protest in support of the accused men was attended by two ministers from the Bharatiya Janata Party, both of whom later resigned. The gang rape and murder, as well as the support the accused received, sparked widespread outrage in India and world-wide.
| 2018 Kathua abduction, gang rape and murder case | |
|---|---|
Protests for the 2018 Kathua abduction, gang rape and murder case | |
| Location | Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, India |
| Coordinates | 32.385°N 75.517°E |
| Date | 10 January 2018- 17 January 2018 |
| Target | Asifa Bano |
Attack type | Abduction, gang rape, and murder |
| Injured | Sexual assault (gang rape) |
| Victim | Asifa Bano |
| Perpetrators | Six men and a juvenile |
| Motive | Drive out the nomadic Muslim community of Bakarwals from Hiranagar Tehsil |
| Accused | Sanji Ram (Temple Priest) Deepak Khajuria (Police Officer) Tilak Raj (Head Constable) Arvind Dutta (Sub-Inspector) Parvesh Kumar (Police Officer) Vishal (son of Sanji Ram) A Juvenile (nephew of Sanji Ram) |
| Convicted | Sanji Ram Deepak Khajuria Surender Verma Tilak Raj Anand Dutta Parvesh Kumar. |
| Verdict | Six of the seven accused were convicted |
| Convictions | Sanji Ram, Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar were sentenced to life imprisonment of 25 years. Tilak Raj, Anand Dutta and Surender Verma were sentenced to five years in jail for destroying evidence. Court acquitted Vishal due to lack of evidence. A juvenile, will be tried at a juvenile court. |
On 10 June 2019, six of the seven defendants were convicted and one acquitted. Three of those convicted were sentenced to life imprisonment and the remaining three to five years. In October 2019, court ordered a First Information Report (FIR) against 6 members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the case, for allegedly torturing and coercing witnesses to give false statements.