In light of the communal outrage over the horrific rape and murder of 8-year-old Bakherwal Muslim girl in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, the police have reportedly said that the case should be represented by Sikhs.
To prevent furthering the Hindu-Muslim polarisation over the Kathua rape case, the J&K police have requested the appointment of prosecuting officers of “neutral faith” in the case, The Indian Express reported. Following recent protests where lawyers and politicians opposed the arrest of the accused, the police want the case to be represented by two Sikh police officers — Harminder Singh, Chief Prosecuting Officer (Samba) and Bhupinder Singh, Chief Prosecuting Officer in J&K Police prosecution wing.
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Confirming that he has already approached the Principal Secretary (Home) regarding the move, Director General of Police SP Vaid told The Indian Express, “For me, they (Harminder Singh and Bhupinder Singh) are police officers whose profession, and not religious identity, is important. In fact, the people who were opposing the Crime Branch investigation into the case were also trying to raise accusations against our team. I gave them the same answer.”
Members of all Tribal coordination committee protesting against the rape and murder of a girl Kathua district (Courtesy: Express Archive)
Speaking to The Indian Express, a police officer said that due to the recent events, the “entire atmosphere is polluted”. The officer reported that people defending the accused only approach the Crime Branch on communal grounds.
“The J&K Police is a nationalist force in Kashmir where it is at the forefront of counter-insurgency operations, but here (in Jammu), it is being considered anti-national because a few members of the Crime Branch investigation team happen to be Muslims,” the officer said, adding that the SSP heading the probe is a Kashmiri Pandit.
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The J&K Law Minister Abdul Haq Khan said that the J&K police’s recommendation will be taken into account, saying that they will get justice to the victim. Prosecuting officers are appointed by Khan’s ministry.
Three months ago, the 8-year-old victim was brutally gang-raped and murdered inside a Devasthan (prayer hall) in Kathua. However, details of the case only emerged when the 18-page charge-sheet against the eight accused surfaced on Wednesday.
Lawyers protesting the filing of a charge-sheet on Monday. (Courtesy: Express Archive)
According to the charge-sheet, the victim, who went missing from her home in Rasana on January 10, was raped thrice inside the prayer hall. The girl was sedated while one of the accused was called from Meerut to rape her. Reportedly, the mastermind of the crime also “performed rituals” on the girl, who was then strangulated and later stoned twice after a police official raped her “one last time”.
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Reports surfaced that the rape and murder of the girl was an attempt to “dislodge” the nomadic Muslim community of the Bakherwals from the region of Rasana.
