Srinagar, December 31, 2018 (PPI-OT): In occupied Kashmir, the year 2018 will be remembered for sheer brutality witnessed by an eight-year-old Muslim girl from Jammu, Aasifa, in the form of rape and murder in January, this year.
The girl hailing from Rasana area of Kathua had gone grazing horses on 10th of January 2018 and after searching for her vainly, her father lodged a missing complaint with the police. However, her body was found on January 17.
The charge-sheet presented by the Crime Branch of Kashmir police in court was one of the most disturbing reads of the year. It stated that the mastermind, Sanjhi Ram, instigated his juvenile nephew and six others to kidnap, rape and murder her in a bid to “drive out the nomadic Muslim community of Bakerwals from Hiranagar area”.
The charge-sheet said, “The minor was held captive in a temple (devasthan), of which Sanjhi Ram is the priest. The victim was sedated and gang-raped several times through the week”.
One of the rapists, Ram’s son Vishal, came all the way from Meerut after the Vishal called him with the proposition to satisfy his lust. Besides, just before the victim was killed by hitting her head with a stone twice and strangulation, a policeman, who is a co-conspirator, asked others to “wait because he wanted to rape her one last time”.
In a letter written to the Director General of Police, the Crime Branch said the victim’s blood-and-mud-soaked clothes had been washed by the police before sending these for forensic test. The crime scene was never preserved and no searches had been carried out in the village even after the girl’s family filed a missing complaint.
On February 15, a Hindu extremist outfit, Ekta Manch, held a march, carrying Indian flag, in support of one of the culprits, Deepak Khajuria. The march was attended by BJP leaders including ministers Lal Singh and Chander Prakash Ganga.
The year has ended, but the victim family sees no ray of hope from Indian judicial system.
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