Kathua rape victim’s father moves Supreme Court for security, seeks transfer of case from Jammu to Chandigarh

The father of the eight-year-old girl, who was brutally gangraped and murdered in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, has approached the Supreme Court seeking safety and security. He has demanded that the case, which has led to country-wide uproar, be shifted to a court outside Jammu and Kashmir.

The top court is likely to hear the case at 2 pm.

He has demanded in his plea that the case should be transferred to Chandigarh, claiming that the trial might get influenced in Jammu. The victim’s father has further demanded that the trial must be put on hold unless the case is transferred out of Jammu.

The plea further says that politicians must be stopped from meeting the juvenile accused in the case, and that the status report of the case should be submitted before the Supreme Court as the case proceeds.

This comes as the trial in the case began in the rape and murder case on Monday. The court was, however, adjourned soon after the hearing began as the defence claimed that the Jammu and Kashmir Police had not provided a copy of the chargesheet to them.

The next hearing in the case has been scheduled for April 28.

Notably, the victim’s father has moved the Supreme Court after his lawyer, Deepika Singh Rajawat, claimed threat to her life. She claimed that she feared getting raped or killed following threats. She had decided to inform the Supreme Court about the same.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Deepika had said, “I don't know till when I will be alive. I can be raped, my modesty can be outraged, I can be killed, I can be damaged. I was threatened that 'we will not forgive you'. I am going to tell SC that I am in danger.”

An eight-year-old girl belonging to the nomadic community had gone missing on January 10 while grazing horses in Rasana forest in Kathua's Hiranagar area. Her body was found a week later. Police investigations revealed she was held captive inside a temple, sedated and repeatedly raped before her murder.

(With agency inputs)