The grief-stricken mother wishes for death penalty for the guilty.
To demand justice for the eight-year-old girl who was gang-raped and murdered in Jammu and Kashmir and the teenager in UP's Unnao, the Congress party led a candelight vigil to India Gate in New Delhi.
The encounter took place when the troops of Rashtriya Rifles and Special Operations Group of J&K Police launched a joint cordon and search operation at Dhari Gote Urarbagi in Desa forest belt, some 55 km from Doda town, late Monday evening, the officials said.
'There are communal overtones in the chargesheet.' 'Hindus and Muslims live peacefully in Jammu and by highlighting such facts in the chargesheet they are committing a conspiracy against Jammu.' The reason: A Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the Kathua rape-cum-murder case (see box below) and the deportation of Rohingya immigrants. Speaking to Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf, B S Salathia, Jammu Bar Association explains their call for a bandh and the communal divide it has brought about in Jammu.
The signatories to the letter include scholars from universities across the globe including the New York University, the Brown University, the Harvard, the Columbia and prominent IITs.
Forest Minister Chaudhary Lal Singh and Industries Minister Chander Prakash had attended the rally.
The court also framed charges for destruction of evidence and under Section 328 (causing hurt by poisoning with an intent to hurt) of the RPC.
Vishal had claimed that he was in Meerut and had never visited Kathua when the crime was committed.
Prominent names such as Kamal Hassan, Supriya Sule and Omar Abdullah condemned the Kathua rape and asked the PM to speak up.
A massive manhunt is underway for three foreign terrorists, possibly of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, responsible for the deadly attack on pilgrims in Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi that resulted in the loss of nine lives, including a two-year-old, officials involved in the investigation said on Monday.
A senior police officer said four heavily-armed terrorists stopped a vehicle on the Jammu-Pathankote national highway on Friday morning and opened fire at the occupants of the vehicle, killing one person on the spot and seriously injuring three others.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday told Russian President Vladimir Putin that a solution to the Ukraine conflict is not possible on the battlefield and peace efforts do not succeed in the midst of bombs and bullets even as he flagged concerns over a missile strike on a children's hospital in Kyiv.
The lawyer also said that she has been called anti-Hindu and has been boycotted socially.
As part of the heightened security arrangements in view of Modi's visit, the officials said, the BSF and the police conducted a joint two-hour-long anti-tunnelling operation in the Ramgarh sector of Samba district.
Advocates representing the media houses told the court that the mistake of disclosing the name and showing photograph of the victim was due to their ignorance of the law.
The rape-and-murder of the eight-year-old Bakerwal community girl has created a controversy after lawyers in Jammu called for a shutdown on Wednesday, demanding the case be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Addressing the sixth convocation at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, the chief minister said the heinous act of the perpetrators "has shocked us as a society" and showed that the value system was facing a crisis.
The support for the eight-year-old girl was growing with politicians, cutting across party lines, seeking justice for her.
He said over 30 people were detained for questioning during searches in 30 Rohingya settlements in Jammu city.
Police on Wednesday arrested seven Bharatiya Janata Party activists as they made a vain bid to hoist the national flag at Lal Chowk in Srinagar, which had been turned into a fortress to foil the party's plan.
The hostages were reportedly tortured throughout Saturday night before three of them were killed.
The application is riddled with careless mistakes and raised doubts about its veracity.
Showbiz celebrities and others are speaking up for the eight-year-old girl who was gang-raped and killed in Kathua three months ago. An enraged nation demanded "exemplary punishment" for the culprits of the crime, even as the politics over the arrest of eight people in connection with the case continued to dominate the discourse in this city of temples. While Thursday saw Farhan Akhtar, Riteish Deshmukh, Karan Johar, Varun Dhawan fire off tweets condemning the incident, female artistes took the torch on Friday. Actresses Swara Bhasker, Kalki Koechlin, Huma Qureshi and Gul Panag were among many who posted pictures of themselves as 'Hindustan', ashamed at the incidents.
Seven terrorists have been holed up since Tuesday afternoon.
"The charge that the two ministers were pro-rapist is absolutely wrong. It was sheer indiscretion on their part," Madhav said.
'It cannot go unpunished,' he said on Twitter.
'Loss of faith in the fairness of the system and the perception that one cannot expect justice are the first few steps to the slippery slope of anarchy,' warns Colonel Anil A Athale (retd).
Singh was under investigation by the federal agency as part of the case lodged under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) against an educational trust run by his wife and former legislator Kanta Andotra, they said.
The father of the victim informed the court that he was withdrawing the agreement given in favour of Rajawat as she seldom appeared during the daily hearings which have been going on for the last five months.
The residents of Phule Malwadi hope this desperate act will draw attention to their problem.
The president said he was hopeful that "all among us will fulfill the responsibility of securing our girl child".
The incident comes days after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin had assured the safety of all migrant workers in the southern state.
The crime branch of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, probing the gang rape-and-murder case, sent a sample of her viscera to a forensic laboratory earlier this month to examine the effect of "mannar" candies (believed to be local cannabis) and Epitril 0.5 mg tablets, administered to the girl by her captors.
The body of a junior commissioned officer was retrieved from a stream in the Poshana area of Surankote late Saturday evening, while the body of a second soldier was found this morning as the water level started receding in the district.
They said a massive search operation has been launched to trace any weapon or explosive that it might have dropped.
Stepping up ceasefire violations, Pakistani Rangers on Friday night resorted to heavy mortar shelling and firing on 8 BSF posts along the Indo-Pak border in Samba and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir, forcing a strong retaliation from the Indian side.
Gandhi donned a black raincoat over a white T-shirt. The yatra was scheduled to start at 7 am but was delayed by an hour and fifteen minutes apparently due to the inclement weather.
An accused in the rape-and-murder case, who was earlier said to be a juvenile, is over 19 years old, the official said, quoting medical reports.
The incident occurred ahead of the annual pilgrimage to the Amarnath cave shrine in south Kashmir Himalayas for which security has been tightened.
Four more Congress leaders, including former deputy speaker of the Jammu and Kashmir assembly Gulam Hyder Malik, and a dozen prominent workers of the Apni Party resigned from their respective parties on Monday in support of veteran politician Ghulam Nabi Azad.
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