Kathua rape and murder: Lives, Interrupted

The green hillock, surrounded by mountains, looks beautiful. Nearby, streams flow quietly, adding to the calm. A middle-aged man in traditional attire is grazing his sheep. He often whistles and whines and runs around them. At Lower Munda in south Kashmir, the Bakarwal is in transit with his family. The nomadic shepherds move to the mountains in April in search of greener pastures for their herds. It takes some 45 days. They return to the plains in October to escape harsh winter.

But his transition is different this time. He is the foster father of the eight-year-old child whose brutal rape and murder at Rasana village in Jammu's Kathua has left him and his family broken. This is the first time in the last eight years that he is undertaking this biannual migration without his daughter. On every trip, she would play by the streams and tend to the horses and sheep on the upper reaches of Kashmir. She helped with daily chores and ran errands.

She liked her pet dog Billu the most. She would take the horses — Sunder was her favourite — and sheep to grazing lands every day. Sunder has returned, but she has not. After her body was found with face down, Billu would go to the jungles to look for her. One morning, the pet left and did not come back. It was later found dead, crushed under a vehicle.

All actions of the father at the makeshift camp are meant to somehow keep him busy and forget the images of the child's crumpled body in a purple kurta with yellow flower print. He pops anti-depressant pills twice a day. It is apparent he has lost coherence. "I went to Punjab's Pathankot to consult a doctor. He has prescribed medicines," he says.

The family arrived here a few days ago. "We will stay here for about two weeks. We will then proceed to Wadhwan for a three-month stay before reaching Kargil," he says in a subdued voice. This year, the family started 10-15 days earlier because of tension and fear in Jammu.

COURT INTERVENTION

On May 7, the Supreme Court had to transfer the case to a court in Punjab's Pathankot, saying fear and a fair trial cannot exist together. "Proceedings will be held every day. No adjournments. No other court will hear the case," said the top court that will also monitor the trial closed to the press and the public.

The father had said the atmosphere in Jammu was highly polarised for a fair trial. This was after rallies were held to back the eight persons accused of kidnapping, drugging, raping and battering to death the nomad child in January. Local lawyers had also tried to obstruct filing of the chargesheet in the case that triggered global condemnation.

This year, thanks to the court, the family got security cover during its migration. "Three cops were with us till Jawahar Tunnel on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway. They told us that they will again make security arrangements for us when we reach Dooru in Anantnag district," he says. Lower Munda is where the family camps on entering Kashmir. Billu has been replaced by Kharu who is guarding the flock and the camp. Sunder has come with 10 other horses. The family is carrying 100 to 150 sheep and goats.

Every morning, tarpaulin sheets are laid on the ground. The family cooks in the open. In the evening, it pitches a tarpaulin tent to save itself from drizzles. There has been less snow this year. Most nullahs and streams are running dry. Meadows are green but chilly; gusty winds can make life difficult. But it's not the weather that has run the family down. "She was our angel. We had plans to admit her to a school this year. Our dream has been shattered," says the father, who has two sons of his own.

The victim's biological parents, who have a son and a daughter, had decided to bring the girl home. Both families had discussed this. "We had decided to admit her to a school. Everything is gone now. We left because we were in fear. People were threatening that if anything happened to the accused, they would not spare us," says the biological father. The state government has floated 97 mobile schools in seven J&K districts where 1,725 Bakarwal children are enrolled.

The foster father's sister, who lived in Jammu's Samba, had given birth to her. He adopted her. The child called her foster mother ami. On January 10, she went out but did not return. On January 17, somebody saw her body behind an old pink temple — not far from the family's two-room house.

WATERSHED MOMENT

It was only a little more than a month ago that anger, shock and protests started sweeping India when chilling details of the crime emerged. She was held without food in the temple allegedly by retired government official Sanjhi Ram. He, his juvenile nephew, his son Vishal Jangotra, the nephew's friend Parvesh Kumar, sub-inspector Anand Dutta, head constable Tilak Raj, and two special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surinder Kumar were part of the crime.

Jangotra allegedly travelled from Meerut to Jammu to satisfy his lust after the juvenile called him. "The juvenile and Khajuria tried to strangle the girl on January 14. The juvenile finally killed her. To ensure she is dead, he hit her head twice with a stone. Both delayed the murder to rape her one last time. Dutta and Raj helped destroy evidence for bribes," says the chargesheet.

Inspector General of Police Syed Ahfadul Mujtaba says the first major breakthrough was when cops found the child's hair strands from the temple. "Forensic reports showed there was no mud or blood on the girl's clothes. But photos had showed mud on her clothes. We got suspicious. Once the post-mortem is done, clothes are sealed as they are. We found that a policeman had washed them," he says.

On April 13, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was compelled to say that crimes against women will not go unpunished, in his first public comments after the Kathua case prompted the Opposition to attack his government. "Incidents being discussed in the last two days cannot be part of a civilised society. As a country, as a society, we are ashamed of it," he said in Delhi. "I want to assure the country that no culprit will be spared. Our daughters will definitely get justice," the PM said. The same day, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guiterres said that the guilty must be held responsible and described the crime as horrific. The United Nations also expressed hopes that authorities will bring perpetrators to justice.

On April 18, President Ram Nath Kovind was in Jammu. He called the crime heinous, barbaric and shameful, and expressed concern over children falling victim to gruesome acts across India. He said protecting children should be the primary responsibility of any society. "The smile of innocent children is the most beautiful thing in this world. The biggest success of any society is when its children are secure. Recently, an innocent girl of this state became the victim of crimes one cannot ever imagine," Kovind said. A new law for death to those raping children below 12 came into force in India on April 22.

THE BACKGROUND

The family had purchased land and built its house in Kathua a few years ago. There are only 40-50 Bakarwal families in a clutch of villages. But, their presence has been resented for years by locals who say their animals damage their crops. Ram was against the settlements in Rasana, Kootah and Dhamyal areas, and provoked locals against them, says the police chargesheet. The entire Bakarwal community in Kathua is shaken and has started an early migration to the mountains. "They did not wait even for transport. They fear anything can happen to anyone," says social activist Talib Hussain.

There are two types of tribal nomads. "Bakarwals usually rear sheep and goats, while as Gujjars mind cows, buffaloes and camels," says Dr Javaid Rahi, Secretary, Tribal Research and Cultural Foundation. Both communities are designated as Scheduled Tribes (STs) in J&K. The state has an ST population, mostly Muslim, of 14.93 lakh. This is 11.9 per cent of the state's total population. There is a 10 per cent reservation for ST applicants in jobs and colleges.

THE CRUX

The police chargesheet says the horrific crime was committed to evict the Bakarwals from Hindu-majority Jammu villages. They have been demanding that the central Forest Rights Act, 2006, be extended to J&K as well. This has not happened because of J&K's special status. "Because Bakarwals are Muslims, some BJP leaders are feeding into fears of Jammu's Hindu community that they are changing the region's demography. Some Hindus believe the Bakarwals are involved in cow slaughter and drug trafficking. Several FIRs had been lodged by both sides," says a social activist. The victim's father said that when the family attempted to bury her, it was threatened with violence by right-wing activists, and was compelled to bury her in a nearby village.

The case also left J&K's politics deeply divided. On January 18, Opposition parties staged a walkout from the Legislative Assembly in protest of the crime. On February 15, a rally was taken out by an outfit called Hindu Ekta Manch that sought a CBI probe so that no "injustice" was done to the accused. On the day the PM spoke about the crime, two BJP ministers had to quit after they were seen at the rally.

On April 30, when BJP's Kavinder Gupta became the state's new Deputy Chief Minister, he shocked everyone by saying that Kathua was a small incident and should not be given much hype. The same day, Mufti's government also inducted in its council of ministers BJP's Kathua MLA, Rajiv Jasrotia, who was allegedly seen in support of those accused of the horrific crime. This was done apparently "to undo some of the damage" suffered by BJP.

"PDP, on the other hand, looks at the community as its constituency and has tried to stop its eviction. The unlikely alliance between the two parties in the strife-torn state manifests itself in so many ways," says the activist. The family, however, only wants justice for its child. "We are satisfied with the police probe. We want that the culprits should be hanged," says the father. "Hang the accused or shoot us. They will kill us if they are freed," the mother says.

KATHUA TIMELINE

January 10  
The girl (victim) goes missing

January 10-14  
Kept captive inside a temple, drugged and gang raped multiple times

January 14
The accused kill the girl

January 17
The victim’s body found behind the temple

January 18  
Opposition parties stage a walkout from J&K Legislative Assembly in protest of the crime

February 15
Hindu Ekta Manch takes out a rally, seeking a CBI probe, so that no ‘injustice’ is done to the accused

April 18
President Ram Nath Kovind calls the crime heinous, barbaric and shameful

April 22
New law comes into force — death to those raping children below 12

May 7  
SC transfers case to a court in Punjab’s Pathankot