More Controversies in Kathua Minor Rape and Murder Case

The case of the rape and murder of the eight year old girl in Kathua, Jammu continues to be mired in controversies. Amongst repeated attempts of communalising the case, problems in the police investigation are also coming to fore. At the same time, cracks in the BJP-PDP coalition can be seen again.

Investigations by the Crime Branch have revealed that the crime was perpetrated with the goal of driving out Muslim nomads from the area. It has also come to light that the police officers investigating the incident before the Crime Branch tampered with the evidence in order to protect the two special police officers, Deepak Khajuria and Surinder Verma, who had been arrested earlier. 

A hawaldar and sub-inspector were detained for questioning for botching up the evidence. Hawaldar Tilak Raj was arrested for washing victim’s blood soaked clothes before sending them for a forensic analysis. The eight year old girl’s body was found a week after it went missing. The investigation only gained pace after the issue was repeatedly raised by Opposition parties in the J&K Assembly. Victim’s parents told in various statements that the police refused to take meaningful measures to find their daughter despite repeated visits and complaints. Deepak Khajuria, one of the accused police officers, was a part of the team leading the initial probe.

Four people have been arrested in the case so far, of which one is a minor and two are police officers. However, a medical examination of the minor has revealed that he is in fact an adult, aged 19 years. 

Members of Hindu Ekta Manch, a right wing group formed after the arrests of the two police officers, are continuing to oppose their arrest and raising their demand of transferring the investigation to CBI. Their demands are being seen as an attempt to communalise the entire issue as the accused belong to the majority Hindu community.

Speaking out against the communalisation, a group of prominent Kashmiri women came out with a statement on International Women’s Day saying, “As a group of women from Jammu and Kashmir, we express great anguish over the unjustifiable delay in the investigations into the heinous rape and murder of a minor eight year old Bakerwal girl in Rassana village, Hiranagar, Kathua district. We are equally concerned over the excessive politicisation and communalisation of an incident which is clearly one of sexual exploitation, sexual brutality and murder. We are also concerned by the brazen manner in which ultra-nationalistic discourse is being used to counter the campaigns for justice and shield the culprits.” 

Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti has, however, refused to hand over the case to CBI. She said in a meeting held with BJP ministers that a transfer at this point will hamper investigation since the Crime Branch was nearly finished with their probe. 

Two BJP ministers, Choudhary Lal Singh and Chander Parkash Ganga, were particularly forceful in raising the transfer demand. The same ministers had earlier attended a rally organised by Hindu Ekta Manch in support of the accused police officers, drawing strong criticism. While Ganga called the police action a part of ‘jungle raj’, Lal Singh said, “This one girl has died and there is so much of investigation. There have been many deaths of women here.”

This issue has become another point of contention between BJP and PDP, the two parties that form the ruling coalition in Kashmir. Naeem Akhtar, senior PDP leader, called the divisive politics being played over the crime deplorable. Syed Muhammad Altaf Bukhari, another senior leader, said that PDP will end its alliance with BJP if justice is not delivered. 

The last time BJP and PDP were at loggerheads with each other was after three civilians lost their lives to army firing in Shopian in late January. While PDP’s Mufti ordered a probe into the incident, BJP strongly opposed any investigation into army action. After the second incident of firing in Shopian on Sunday, in which four civilians died, no such demands were made. There were many contradictions between the army’s and the locals’ accounts this time as well, making the need for an investigation clear, but the state government has remained silent this time, possibly in an attempt to maintain relations with the BJP-ruled Central government.