Charges framed in Kathua case

Pathankot (Punjab): A court here, hearing the brutal gang rape-andmurder case of an eightyear-old-girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday framed charges against seven of the eight accused, paving way for starting of trial against them.

Pathankot (Punjab), June 7: A court here, hearing the brutal gang rape-and-murder case of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir, on Thursday framed charges against seven of the eight accused, paving way for beginning of trial against them, officials said here.

The district and sessions court has framed charges under various sections of the Ranbir Penal Code including 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 302 (murder) and 376-D (gang rape), special public prosecutor J K Chopra said here.The accused against whom charges were framed were Sanji Ram, his son Vishal, special police officers Deepak Khajuria alias Deepu and Surinder Verma, Parvesh Kumar alias Mannu, head constable Tilak Raj, and sub-inspector Arvind Datta.

Sanji Ram is considered to be the main accused who is alleged to have hatched the conspiracy with other accused for kidnapping the girl as a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area.

The fate of the eighth accused, who is a juvenile was yet to be decided after the Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police claimed that he was an adult, Chopra said. -PTI