Jammu courts directs police to register FIR against SIT that probed Kathua rape and murder case

A court in Jammu on Tuesday directed police to register an FIR against a Special Investigation Team (SIT), which probed the 2018 rape and murder of a minor girl in Kathua, for allegedly torturing and coercing witnesses to depose false statements.

Speaking to ANI, Defence lawyer Ankur Sharma said the court directed the Jammu Superintendents of Police to lodge an FIR against all six members of the SIT for "manufacturing of false evidence, criminal intimidation, illegal confinement" among other serious offences.

The police have been directed to register the FIR and file a compliance report in the court before November 7, the lawyer said.

"There were allegations of manufacturing false witnesses against the SIT which probed the case, on the directions of their political bosses. We establish a prima facie case against the SIT in the court after which it directed the Jammu SSP to file an FIR against all the members of the SIT for manufacturing false evidence, custodial torture, criminal intimidation, illegal confinement," he told ANI.

Sharma said the development could affect the case. "It can affect appeal after our allegations are established in the investigation," he said.

In June this year, a District and Sessions Court had sentenced three main accused -- Sanji Ram, Parvesh Kumar and Deepak Khajuria -- to life imprisonment and awarded five years in jail to three others for the destruction of evidence in the case.