J&K hands over minor’s rape probe to police

The Mehbooba Mufti-led PDP-BJP government on Tuesday handed over the alleged rape and murder case of an eight-year-old tribal nomad girl to the Crime Branch of the Jammu and Kashmir police.

The body of the girl was found near the jungles at Rasana village of Hiranagar in Kathua district on January 17, a week after she went missing near her home in Kota village. The girl’s family had alleged that she was raped before being murdered given the nature of wounds on her body. The police have only registered a case of murder and abduction and not rape as demanded by the family.

The alleged rape and murder has snowballed into a major controversy with Opposition parties gunning for the Mufti-led government.

Jammu and Kashmir Minister for Revenue and Parliamentary Affairs, Abdul Rehman Veeri told the Legislative Assembly, “The government has accorded sanction to the  transfer of the case to Crime branch for further investigation”, said Veeri.

Additional Director General of Police, State Crime Branch later constituted a Special Investigation Team.