KATHU CASE: JUVENILE DECLARED AS AN ADULT

PATHANKOT: The Pathankot district and sessions court accepted medical report of an accused in the Kathua rape and murder case, who claimed to be a juvenile, which ascertained his age to be over 20 years, special public prosecutor JK Chopra said.

The case pertains to the brutal rape and murder of an eight-yearold girl in Jammu and Kashmir in January this year.

Rejecting the plea of the defence counsel, district and sessions judge Tajwinder Singh said the accused, Parvesh Kumar alias ‘Mannu’, will be treated as an adult, the lawyer said.

Kumar’s counsel AK Sawhney said they have decided to challenge the decision in the Punjab and Haryana high court while Parvesh would be brought to the court daily along with the other accused, till the high court decides on his age.

Meanwhile, cross examination of the victim’s father was also done by the defence.

Parvesh’s medical report was submitted before the court earlier this week by the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s crime branch, after it resumed post summer break.

The district and sessions judge had issued directions to the crime branch to conduct a bone ossification test to ascertain Parvesh’s age.

On a query about the doctors’ opinion of the age of the accused, Chopra said, “According to it (the medical report), his age is stated to be over 20.”

The court had ordered the test after the defence counsel moved an application in the first week of June, requesting to treat the accused as a minor, on the basis of his matriculation certificate.

The defence, which had claimed that the age of the persons should be decided on the basis of the matriculation certificate or the school where the child was admitted first, was challenged by the special public prosecutors appointed by the J&K government in the court.

Defence lawyer Sawhney claimed that the admission form duly signed by Parvesh’s guardians during admission to a primary school was in the custody of the crime branch and that should be made a case property so that the court could consider it as the document that proves that his client was juvenile.

The crime branch had constituted a team of doctors, comprising medicos from various streams, including the radiology department, and the accused was examined on June 22 and 23.

The court had directed senior superintendent of police RK Jalla to supervise the medical examination and submit the report when the court reopens after a 16-day summer break.

While seven of the accused, including Parvesh, are facing trial in the court here on the directions of the Supreme Court, the eighth accused in the case is facing trial in a juvenile court in Kathua district.