Kathua rape case verdict: Six out of seven accused found guilty

Jammu: Over a year after the brutal gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, a Pathankot court delivered the verdict today.

Six out of the seven accused have been found guilty. 

The in-camera trial for the case ended June 3, 2019.

Kathua rape & murder case: "Persons convicted by Pathankot court are Sanji Ram, Anand Dutta, Parvesh Kumar, Deepak Khajuria, Surender Verma and Tilak Raj. Verdict yet to come on Vishal," says Advocate Mubeen Farooqui, representing victim's family. (original tweet will be deleted) pic.twitter.com/Z2fmGydfi9

— ANI (@ANI) June 10, 2019

Village head Sanji Ram, two special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma and Head constable Tilak Raj have been convicted. Vishal, the son of Sanji Ram, was acquitted after the judge accepted his alibi plea.

The two special officers, Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma, have been found guilty of destroying evidence in the case.

Following the verdict, both Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah tweeted commending the judgement and condoning the heinous act.

Welcome the judgement. High time we stop playing politics over a heinous crime where an 8 year old child was drugged, raped repeatedly & then bludgeoned to death. Hope loopholes in our judicial system are not exploited & culprits get exemplary punishment https://t.co/jBuRUdGa5h

— Mehbooba Mufti (@MehboobaMufti) June 10, 2019

Amen to that. The guilty deserve the most severe punishment possible under law. And to those politicians who defended the accused, vilified the victim & threatened the legal system no words of condemnation are enough. #KathuaRapeCasehttps://t.co/gL2FfRL3rJ

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) June 10, 2019

Mufti, in a video, applauded the crime branch and police who took part in the investigation. She also said that the verdict reinstated people's faith on the Judiciary.