‘Overdose of sedatives left victim incapacitated to resist rape, murder’

CHARGESHEET SUMS UP THE INVESTIGATION OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR POLICE’S CRIME BRANCH TEAM AND ALSO GIVES DETAILS OF ANALYSES OF CALLS AND BANK ACCOUNTS, THAT LED IT TO THE EIGHT ACCUSED

JAMMU/PATHANKOT : The eightyear-old girl from Kathua, who was gangraped and killed, was overdosed with a cocktail of sedatives in her captivity, ‘rendering her incapacitated’ to resist sexual assault and murder, states the supplementary chargesheet filed by Jammu and Kashmir’s crime branch on Monday.

The chargesheet, filed in the Pathankot sessions court, sums up the investigation of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s crime branch team and also gives details of the analyses of calls and bank accounts, that led it to the eight accused of the brutal crime in January. The supplementary chargesheet was submitted by a crime branch team, led by senior superintendent of police RK Jalla and special public prosecutors J K Chopra and Santokh Singh Basra, Bhopinder Singh and Harminder Singh, before Pathankot district and sessions judge Tejwinder Singh.

"We have submitted the supplementary chargesheet, giving details of call analyses, bank details and medical reports," special public prosecutor Chopra said.

The chargesheet lists in chilling detail the sedatives, including cannabis, forcefully given to the child from a minority nomadic community, who was abducted on January 10 and allegedly kept in captivity for three days. She was killed on January 14 and her body was found in a forested area near Kathua on January 17, officials said. During the course of the investigation, "it has been established that the victim was administered sedatives by the accused during her captivity", the chargesheet states.

She was given 'mannar' (believed to be local cannabis) as well as epitril 0.5 mg on an empty stomach, it says.

"She was forcefully administered five tablets of Clonazepam of 0.5 mg each on January 11, which is higher than the safe therapeutic dose. Subsequently, more tablets were given...The signs and symptoms of an overdose may include drowsiness, confusion, impaired coordination, slow reflexes, slowed or stopped breathing, coma (loss of consciousness) and death," according to the medical expert's report submitted along with the chargesheet. The peak concentration of clonazepam is achieved in the blood after "one hour to 1.5 hours" of oral administration and its absorption is complete "irrespective of (whether it is) administered with or without food", states the report.

It says the tablets given to the eight-year-old could have pushed her into a state of shock or coma.

The crime branch has arrested Sanjhi Ram, custodian of a temple where the child was allegedly confined, his son Vishal and his juvenile nephew, two special police officers Deepak Khajuria alias 'Dipu' and Surender Verma and friend Parvesh Kumar alias Mannu. All of them were named in the first chargesheet on April 9. It also arrested head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Dutta, who allegedly took ₹4 lakh from Ram and destroyed crucial evidence. Raj and Dutta have since been dismissed from service.