Kathua rape and murder case: Taking suo motu cognisance of the conduct of lawyers in Kathua rape case, the Supreme Court on Friday said access to justice can't be impeded by lawyers. The top court issued a notice to Bar Council of India and also to Jammu HC Bar Association and Kathua Bar Association. Even as the chorus for justice in Kathua rape case grows louder, the minor victim’s family is under threat. The sister of the eight-year-old girl, who was held captive, sedated and repeatedly raped before being killed, says her family received death threats recently. Speaking to News18 Network, she demanded death penalty for the accused. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi says she’ll work to amend the POCSO Act to make rape of children under 12 years punishable by death. The girl, who belonged to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community, had disappeared from a spot near her house on January 10. A week later, her body was found in the same area. A Special Investigation Team, formed to probe the incident, has arrested eight people, including two Special Police Officers (SPOs) and a head constable, who was charged with destroying evidence.
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Apr 13, 2018 4:19 pm (IST)
Speaking on the Kathua rape-and-murder case, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Friday said "the victim's family should get justice". Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Uma Bharti also said that the guilty will not be spared in the Unnao and Kathua rape cases and stringent action will be taken against them. However, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi accused the Opposition of communalising the Kathua and Unnao rape incidents, and said they should not have protested until an investigation was conducted.
Apr 13, 2018 3:43 pm (IST)
I did not say a word agst BJP but underscored anguish and sense of shame for Kathua and Unnao. Yet bhakts screamed (their guilt?) Do they agree that something is terribly rotten? Beyond blame we need to clean the mess. Humanity calls.
Waheed Rehman Para, PDP Youth President, said, "Kathua is a national embarrassment. The chief minister is monitoring the incident from day one. All people involved have been arrested. We have given proper support to the family. They have met the chief minister and were assured of all support. National Conference block president was involved in organising the protest. This is a hate crime and the aim of PDP-BJP government is to de-polarise. Accused don't belong to any religion. They are criminals."
Apr 13, 2018 3:06 pm (IST)
HC on Unnao Rape Case | Allahabad high asks CBI to immediately arrest BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar and seeks a progress report on May 2. The court said that it will monitor the probe. "Sengar should not just be detained but arrested," it said. Meanwhile, CBI officials, who had arrived in Unnao, have left the hotel after meeting the survivor's family. The woman and her family have been staying at a hotel near Unnao since Monday when her father, who was allegedly thrashed by the MLA’s brother, died.
Apr 13, 2018 2:57 pm (IST)
Taking suo moto cognisance of Jammu and Kashmir Bar Associations' conduct in Kathua rape case, the Supreme Court on Friday issued notices to Bar Council of India, Jammu High Court Bar Association and Kathua Bar Association. The court issued strict warning to the lawyers and said that they cannot instruct to dispense justice. "Access to justice can't be impeded by lawyers. Victims and their lawyers must be allowed to present their case," it said.
Apr 13, 2018 2:33 pm (IST)
Women Child Welfare Secretary said that they are in consultation with the law ministry regarding amendment of POCSO Act to introduce stringer laws for rapists. "Those who rape children upto 12 years of age should be given death sentence. We are consulting the law ministry to execute this. The home minister has also said that there should be no delay in filing FIR in rape cases and it should immediately be brought into police's notice. Also, all media people are requested to kindly adhere to the guidelines set up, and identity of any victim of rape case should not be revealed," the secretary said.
Don't let this matter be pushed aside by the news-cycle driven media. Raise your voice, put up your own pictures and tag me. pic.twitter.com/hf5oj3uyBJ
Nirbhaya's mother, Asha Devi says, "If my daughter's criminals were punished, Kathua and Unnao would not have happened. Every time an incident happens, we just debate on it and do not take an action."
Apr 13, 2018 1:27 pm (IST)
The cruelest form of evil is harming an innocent child. What is happening to the world we live in??? These people should be given the most severe punishment there is! Where are we heading as humanity? Shaken to my core.#JusticeforAsifa
HOW do human beings go through evil acts on another human? During an act, how do they not stop? Is there no concience? No guilt? No regret? No humanity? HOWWW do you allow yourself to go through raping and killing a child?! Cannot understand it. #JusticeforAsifa
If the judges stopped fighting amongst themselves and the Government stopped its power play, we may have a reformed justice system within which rogues would get a swift death sentence for heinous crimes! Till then it’s all blah blah with no real punishment for these rogues!
Unnao Rape Case | Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that the state government will not tolerate crime and corruption and every culprit will be punished without considering the position and power of the person. Yogi government's Bangarmau MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar is accused of raping an 18-year-old girl. "As soon as the matter came up to the state government, we formed an SIT and according to the reports of the SIT, arrests have been made. CBI has also been brought in and they have taken the MLA in custody. The government will not tolerate crime," the CM said.
Apr 13, 2018 1:14 pm (IST)
Meanwhile, BJP MP Meenakshi Lekhi said that a fair probe was done in Kathua case. "SIT was formed and around seven people were arrested. Also, I would like to say it on record that the Jammu Bar Association president B S Slathia is the polling agenct of Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad," she said.
Apr 13, 2018 1:10 pm (IST)
Jammu and Kashmir DGP said that police will take action against the lawyers who impeded the crime branch officers. "J&K police has conducted investigation in the Kathua case fairly. Jammu and Kashmir police does not have any religion or caste. It is an Indian force to check crime and conduct investigations. We are professionals and don't have a religion. The probe has been fair and no one was harassed. If you call normal questioning as harassment, then we can't help it, we need to professionally take up the investigations," the DGP said.
Referring to Kathua rape case, Malayalam actor Manju Warrier said in a Facebook post that we can end atrocities like these only by strengthening our law and order structure. "When we hear the name 'Kathua', every person with a heart is burning inside. The unheard weeps of the 8-year-old is ten thousand times louder than what we've heard so far from Kashmir. The whole nation's head should bow down. Each Indian should apologise t o her but still nothing can replace her life. Every time our girl child loses her life, we are agitated and react. But all that settles down soon. We can put an end to these cruelties only by strengthening our law and order structure. Until then we will continue to shed tears for many more children," Warrier said.
The chargesheet filed by the CBI also alleged the plot was carried to "dislodge the Bakarwal community in Rassana", the village in Kathua district where the eight-year-old lived.
Apr 13, 2018 12:29 pm (IST)
If the judges stopped fighting amongst themselves and the Government stopped its power play, we may have a reformed justice system within which rogues would get a swift death sentence for heinous crimes! Till then it’s all blah blah with no real punishment for these rogues!
The Delhi High Court on Friday issued notices to several media houses who disclosed identity of Kathua victim, asking them why action should not be taken against the organisations. The high court took up the issue on its own after coming across print and electronic media reports revealing victim's name. The law of the land states that the identity of a rape victim cannot be disclosed and those guilty of doing so face be punished under Section 228-A of the Indian Penal Code. However, Jammu and Kashmir is ruled by State Ranbir Penal Code or RPC. Indian Penal Code is not applicable in the Valley under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution.
Apr 13, 2018 11:23 am (IST)
Thousands of men and women stood up to be counted in the battle for justice and to protest the rising acts of violence against girls and women.
Hon PM sir, there isn’t a day when we don’t hear you speak about things that are important to you yet there are times when you are completely silent about things that are important to others. Please don’t let #Asifa be someone you choose to remain silent about.
Update on Unnao Rape Case | Meanwhile, a CBI team has reached Uttar Pradesh's Makhi village to record the statement of the Unnao rape survivor. The 18-year-old woman has accused Bangarmau BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar of raping her. The FIR also names a co-accused, Shashi Singh, who allegedly took the woman to the MLA’s residence in Makhi on June 4, on the pretext of recommending a job for her from the legislator. "Me an my family feel completely unsafe. We are receiving threats from people," says the woman's uncle, who helped her report the matter.
Apr 13, 2018 11:10 am (IST)
A group of Supreme Court lawyers has requested the Chief Justice of India to take suo motu cognisance against lawyers' conduct in Kathua rape case. Advocate P V Dinesh mentions the case before the CJI and asks for action against Jammu lawyers for impeding justice. Hearing the issue, the CJI asks the group to bring "some material before" the court to proceed. A PIL is likely to be filed during the course of the day. "Something must come on record. We have nothing on record," the bench, also comprising justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, said and asked the lawyer to file some material in support of his contention. Dinesh submitted that the apex court should take note of Jammu and Kashmir bar associations' actions and issue directions to them and the Bar Council of India to ensure that the rule of law prevails.
Kamal Haasan, Prakash Raj, Sanjay Dutt, Anil Kapoor among others demanded severe punishment for the blood-curdling barbarism and mourn the death of humanity inside a religious place.
Apr 13, 2018 10:54 am (IST)
"It's a very heinous crime. I wish the perpetrators get punished for brutally killing a small eight-year-old girl. We had constituted an SIT of crime branch, which had conducted probe in a very professional manner. Let's see what happens in court, " said J&K DGP SP Vaid said, adding that the politics over the incident is unfortunate and should not happen.
It is a very heinous crime, it can't get worse than this. The SIT has done a very professional job and filed chargesheet, now we hope justice will be done: SP Vaid, J&K DGP on #KathuaCasepic.twitter.com/qo9efMGPdO
Belonging to the Muslim nomadic shepherd Bakarwal community, the eight-year-old girl's sister says that they have spent their lives roaming in the jungles with their cattle, but never have they felt such kind of fear that they are facing now. The chargesheet filed by the CBI stated the plot was carried to “dislodge the Bakarwal community in Rassana”, the village in Kathua district where the minor lived.
Apr 13, 2018 10:37 am (IST)
Speaking to News18, the girl's sister says that the aggrieved family saw the victim's hand, leg and jaw broken. "We were not even allowed to bury her in our area. We were forced to consign the body to a grave far away. We want her tormentors to be hanged. We are satisfied with the investigation till now, but justice will only be delivered after those people are hanged," her sister says, adding that the family has also received threats.
Apr 13, 2018 10:27 am (IST)
Maneka Gandhi asks for Death Penalty | Amid nationwide grief and anger over the gang-rape and murder of eight-year-old in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua, there is a move to change the law for sexual crimes against children to bring in the death penalty for child rape. Union Minister Maneka Gandhi in a video message said that she was "deeply, deeply" disturbed by the Kathua rape case. "I have been deeply, deeply disturbed by the rape case in Kathua and all the recent rape cases that have happened on children. I and the ministry intend to bring an amendment to the POCSO Act asking for the death penalty for rape on children below 12 years," said Maneka Gandhi.
Apr 13, 2018 10:25 am (IST)
An eight-year-old girl was held captive, starved, sedated and repeatedly raped inside a ‘devisthan’ in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district before being murdered and dumped in a nearby forest. This was on January 17. Nearly three months later, India has finally woken up to the horror the child suffered, details of which have been chronicled in the chargesheet filed by the police. The abduction, rape and killing of the girl from the Bakherwal community was part of a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area, the 15-page chargesheet filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police's Crime Branch in the chief judicial magistrate's court said. It lists the caretaker of the Devisthan, a small temple, in Rassana village in Kathua, as the main conspirator behind the abduction, rape and killing.
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