Bail to convict in Kathua rape, murder case perturbs Mehbooba

In Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the wheels of justice have completely collapsed, Peoples Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti said after one of the convicts in the 2018 Kathua rape case was granted bail by a court in Indian Punjab.

The eight-year-old girl, Aasifa, was raped and murdered in Hiranagar area of the Hindu-dominated Kathua district in January 2018 and the verdict in the case was pronounced on June 10, 2019, by a court in Pathankot, Punjab, where the case was shifted on the directives of the Indian Supreme Court.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court suspended the remaining sentence and jail term of dismissed police sub-inspector Anand Dutta and ordered that he be released upon furnishing surety bonds.

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“Perturbed that the policeman convicted for destroying evidence in Kathua rape case was granted bail and his jail term suspended. When a child raped and bludgeoned to death is deprived of justice, it becomes obvious that the wheels of justice have completely collapsed,” she tweeted.

The court convicted six people, including the main culprit, Sanji Ram, the dismissed Special Police Officers Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar who were sentenced to life imprisonment. Three dismissed policemen, Anand Dutta, Tilak Raj, and Surender Verma were sentenced to five years in jail for hampering material evidence.

Anand Dutta has already undergone more than half of the sentence awarded to him, while the sentence of co-accused Tilak Raj was also suspended on December 16 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.