Kathua Rape & Murder Case Verdict Announced- 3 Life Imprisoned, 3 gets 5-year Jail Term and 1 Acquitted

The rape and murder of an 8-year old girl took place in the Kathua District which shook the conscience of the entire nation and the nation stood together to get justice for the toddler. A year span took to reach, what was aspired by each & every citizen of Bharat.

There were in total 7 accused in the present case and on the direction of the Hon'ble Supreme Court of India, the day-to-day in camera proceedings were held which accounted for the examination of 114 witnesses (both prosecution & defence) by the Pathankot Court, the case after being transferred on demand from the Principal Sessions Judge Court of Kathua. The case was concluded on June 3 and was reserved for the Judgment on June 10, 2019.

The Judgment was delivered by the Pathankot Court in the afternoon, which convicted 6 out of 7 accused namely Sanji Ram, Anand Dutta, Parvesh Kumar, Deepak Khajuria, Surender Verma and Tilak Raj on the charge of Rape & Murder, which initiated the arguments on sentencing the convicts. Vishal, the son of Sanjhi Ram was the only one being acquitted in the case.

The Court sentenced the accused to the following punishments-  'Three of the convicts- Sanji Ram, Parvesh Kumar and Deepak Khajuria- were sentenced to life imprisonment. They have been fined Rs 1 lakh each for murder along with 25 years in jail for gangrape'. The remaining 3 attracted 5 year jail term, each.

6 out of 7 accused convicted in the Kathua Rape and Murder Case. [1]

The judgment was welcomed by every individual, because the details of the case per the chargesheet disclosed is that, 'the eight-year-old girl, who was kidnapped on January 10, 2018, was allegedly raped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir after having been kept sedated for four days before she was bludgeoned to death' which ignited the anger & want for immediate justice to the girl was the only need of every individual.[2]

Still, the question is unanswered 'ARE GIRLS SAFE NOW?? Recently again a toddler was harassed, raped and murdered...............and the story continued on the day-to-day basis. 

• [1] Live Law News Network, Kathua Case : Three Sentenced To Life Term For Rape & Murder Of Minor Girl, LIVE LAW (June 11, 2019, 07:17 AM), https://www.livelaw.in/top-stories/kathua-rape-murder-case-sentencing-145548.

• [2] Express Web Desk, Kathua rape case verdict HIGHLIGHTS: Three main accused sentenced to life imprisonment, 5-year jail term for others, INDIAN EXPRESS (June 11, 2019, 07:19AM), https://indianexpress.com/article/india/kathua-rape-murder-case-verdict-live-updates-5772581/.