One of the eight accused in the Kathua gangrape and murder case, who claimed to be a juvenile, will now be tried as an adult by the Pathankot district and sessions court. The court has accepted a medical report, asserting that Parvesh Kumar aka ‘Mannu’ is over 20 years of age, according to the special public prosecutor.
District and sessions judge Tajwinder Singh rejected the plea of the defence counsel, declaring Kumar a “major”. The medical report was presented before the court earlier this week by the Jammu and Kashmir police’s crime branch after the court ordered a bone ossification test to ascertain the age of the accused.
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While speaking to the media outside the court, defence counsel AK Sawhney stated that they will now move to the Supreme Court to challenge the verdict of the trial court.
The crime branch has also moved an application to treat another accused, who claims to be a juvenile, as an adult on the basis of his medical reports. The matter, however, remains pending before the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. The court had earlier ordered a medical test to ascertain the age of the accused after the defence counsel requested the court to treat him as a minor and submitted his matriculation certification in the first week of June.
Senior Superintendent of Police R K Jalla supervised the examination, conducted on 22 and 23 June, and a report will be presented before the court when it reopens following a 16-day summer break.
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Apart from Kumar, six of the accused are facing trial in Pathankot as per the SC’s directive, while one is facing trial as a juvenile in Kathua district. The eight accused are being tried for the brutal gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir in January.
(With inputs from PTI)
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