Police seeks adjournment of Kathua trial; says accused being a major or minor still undecided

Jammu and Kashmir police's crime branch Monday moved a plea before a juvenile justice board hearing the case of an accused in the gangrape and murder of a young girl in Kathua, seeking deferment of the trial as the state high court is yet to decide whether he is a minor or not.

Appearing before the board, the special public prosecutor of the crime branch submitted that the high court is yet to pronounce its decision on an application moved against the decision of a Kathua court which accepted the accused's claim that he is a minor, officials said.

The board, after framing charges against the accused who played a key role in kidnapping, rape and murder of the eight-year-old nomadic girl, had fixed Monday for examining prosecution witnesses and commencing of trial.

The board, after examining the plea of the crime branch, however, made it clear that there was no stay by the high court on holding the trial and gave prosecution two weeks to produce evidence and its witnesses in the case.

The crime branch had filed a petition in the high court against the accused's claim of being a juvenile and said that the then chief judicial magistrate in Kathua had erred in accepting it.

The crime branch had also annexed a report of the medical board of Government Medical College, Jammu, which said the accused was "not less than 19 and not more than 21" years of age.

However, the case has seen repeated adjournments last year.

The juvenile justice board had framed charges on July 8 following which it issued a notice to the crime branch, asking them to bring in their prosecution evidence and witnesses for the trial.

According to the notice, "the next date of hearing has been fixed on July 15".

"The case has been fixed for prosecution evidence... Kindly arrange the presence of public prosecutor appointed in the case so as to examine the prosecution evidence/ witnesses," it said.

The trial in this case was shifted to the Pathankot Sessions Court on the directions of the Supreme Court last year.

The Pathankot Sessions Court had on June 10 this year sentenced Sanji Ram, dismissed special police officer Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar to life imprisonment, while sacked policemen Anand Dutta, Tilak Raj and Surender Verma were handed five years in jail.

The verdict came 17 months after the girl was brutally gang-raped inside a 'devisathan' (local temple) and later killed. She was kidnapped on January 10 and her body was found on January 17.