The Supreme Court on Tuesday agreed to urgently hear a plea by the family of key Kathua rape case witness and social activist Talib Hussain that he has been framed in a rape case and cruelly tortured in custody by the police in Jammu and Kashmir, which is under Governor’s rule since June 19.
A Bench led by Chief Justice Dipak Misra scheduled the habeas corpus petition filed by Mumtaz Ahmed Khan, the cousin of Mr. Hussain, for hearing on Wednesday. Mr. Khan, represented by senior advocate Indira Jaising and advocate Sunil Fernandes, contended that the police should produce Mr. Hussain in the Supreme Court and produce his medical records while he was in custody.
“Talib Hussain, who played a crusading role as a social activist in highlighting the unfortunate rape and murder of the minor girl from Kathua, has been implicated with false charges and has been in custody under an FIR dated July 28, 2018 at Samba police station in J&K... Mr. Hussain has been subjected to third degree torture of the worst kind,” the petition said.