The bodies of a teenager and his two relatives were found near a waterfall in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district three days after they went missing. The Jammu and Kashmir Congress has demanded a high-level investigation into the incident. The police have ruled out any terror angle, but the exact cause of death is unknown and will be determined by a postmortem.
'Those who genuinely seek justice do not differentiate between a victim and a victim or an accused and accused.' 'They demand justice for all,' says Utkarsh Mishra.
Conspirator's family expressed doubt about the credibility of the probe by the crime branch of Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the chargesheets filed by the crime branch, the abduction, rape and killing of the Bakerwal girl was part of a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area.
People, carrying "Not In My Name" placards and forming human chains, protested across Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Goa and Kerala.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra directed the Jammu-Kashmir Police to file a supplementary chargesheet in the case within eight weeks.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising said the case should be transferred to Chandigarh due to proximity to Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir and the incidents of obstruction of police personnel by lawyers of the local court.
The dastardly dimensions of the attack are gradually sinking in even as the Government of India announced its immediate diplomatic and other retaliatory measures. It is generally expected to be followed up with punitive military action across the LoC, sooner than later, observes Mohammad Sayeed Malik, the distinguished commentator on Kashmir affairs.
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.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said the family of the Kathua rape victim should get justice.
The quantum of punishment will be announced later on Monday.
A police officer and his eight siblings, including five sisters, were deported to Pakistan on Wednesday despite a court order granting them temporary relief. The nine members of the extended family, who have been living in Jammu and Kashmir for generations, were among more than two dozen people, mostly from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), who were served deportation notices following the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack. The deportation has sparked outrage, with protests and appeals for intervention from the home minister and lieutenant governor. The family members claim they are not Pakistani nationals and have been living in the region for generations, presenting revenue records to support their claims. The court has ordered a detailed report on the case within two weeks and will hear it again on May 20.
He said the party has not extended an invitation to Singh to join the yatra.
'The government has to explain (to the army, air force and navy chiefs) whether they want a punitive strike, a deep punitive strike, or whether they want limited war or an all-out war, will it be a circumscribed war or will it be a shallow attack along the border.'
Amid controversy over the Gulmarg fashion show held during the month of Ramzan, Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday said his government would have never given permission for such an event in any month of the year.
'Cases of molestation and rape are reaching the doorstep of households irrespective of their socio-economic status. That's the extent to which criminals are feeling emboldened today.'
'Pakistan cannot sustain a war with India for more than four days. They are in such dire straits. At best they can sustain war for one week.'
'I am committing suicide because I was subject to torture and humiliation in the police station.'
A shoddily drafted application for birth certificate was the loose string that led to the unravelling of the conspiracy to proclaim one of those accused in the 2018 gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Kathua as a juvenile.
The top court also held that medical opinion regarding the age of an accused cannot be 'brushed aside' in the absence of statutory proof on the same issue.
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 high-profile rape cases in Hathras, in Unnao (2018) and Kathua (2018) show that the infrastructure slated under the Nirbhaya Fund is either absent or inefficient, reports Geetanjali Krishna.
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.
Sanji Ram and Vishal Jangotra, who were chargesheeted by the crime branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police in the case, claimed that the police had miserably failed to conduct a "fair and effective" probe and alleged that "tainted" officers were part of special investigation team which probed the matter.
M C Mary Kom, who is also a sitting Rajya Sabha MP, said the alarming increase in the number of rapes in the country has left her feeling "hurt and helpless" while star shuttler Saina Nehwal condemned the 'ghastly crimes'.
The apex court directed members of the bar not to obstruct judicial proceedings in the Kathua gang rape and murder case in Jammu and Kashmir
The application came up for hearing on Thursday before a division bench of justices Tejinder Singh Dhindsa and Lalit Batra through video conferencing during which the counsel for Jammu and Kashmir R S Cheema requested for a new date that was granted.
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 girl was allegedly repeatedly assaulted before being killed at a village in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district in January.
"The charge that the two ministers were pro-rapist is absolutely wrong. It was sheer indiscretion on their part," Madhav said.
The apex court, after perusing the report, said it would not 'digress' from the main issue of ensuring a fair trial, not only for the accused but also for the victim's family.
The home minister will also review the preparation for the annual Amarnath pilgrimage set to start on June 29.
The grief-stricken mother wishes for death penalty for the guilty.
'India doesn't belong to these people, it's ours.' 'We need to wake up and save India right now.'
While seven accused were presented before the district and sessions judge, the eighth is a juvenile who moved a bail application before a judicial magistrate.
Delhi high court restrained the media from revealing the identity of the victim by any means.
'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.
Security forces on Tuesday morning gunned down two terrorists holed up in a forest area near a village in the Akhnoor sector in Jammu and Kashmir, taking the number of militants killed in the 27-hour-long gunfight near the Line of Control (LoC) to three, officials said.
Forest Minister Chaudhary Lal Singh and Industries Minister Chander Prakash had attended the rally.
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.
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