A QUESTION OF ANSWERS
Who are the Bakarwals?
Bakarwals, traditionally shepherds and goatherds, are Sunni Muslim nomads who, along with the Gujjars, form 11 per cent of J&K’s population. Included among the Scheduled Tribes in 1991, they biannually migrate with their herds—to Kashmir and Ladakh in summer and return to the plains of Jammu in winter. While this has gone on for years, tensions have been rising in recent years with right-wing Hindu groups getting aggressive with the nomads. In Rasana village, for instance, Sanji Ram, the main accused, allegedly incited fellow Hindus against the Bakarwals, accusing them of drug peddling and transporting cows to Kashmir for slaughter.
Was there a cover-up?
Yes. When the girl’s adoptive father first reported his daughter as missing on January 11, the Hiranagar police told him to search for her at his relatives’ homes. After an FIR was registered the following afternoon, the investigating officer—sub-inspector Anand Dutta—and head constable Tilak Raj allegedly accepted bribes from Sanji Ram. They allegedly misled the search for the child even as she was being subjected to rape and torture. Later, the two policemen allegedly destroyed crucial evidence, such as blood and semen stains from the girl’s clothes. The chargesheet notes that Ram, a retired revenue official, seemed to have access to piles of cash. The police are now probing the source of the money to determine if Ram was being funded.
Why did the national media pick up the story so late?
Although the case was widely reported in the media in J&K, the national newspapers and television networks woke up to the story only after the horror of the crime was revealed in the 18-page chargesheet submitted by the police in the Kathua district court on April 9.
Why did the Hindu protesters in the area demand transfer of the case to the CBI?
After Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti transferred the probe to a special investigation team (SIT) of the crime branch, the predominantly Hindu residents of Rasana village alleged that the police were harassing them and arresting innocents. Local lawyers backed them. The demand for transfer of the case to the CBI was apparently intended to protect the accused—many believed they were ‘innocent’ and some even suggested they were ‘right’. It was also a move to buy time since the transfer of the case to a central agency would have stalled the crime branch investigation.