Kathua rape: Main accused tells SC he was like grandfather to victim

New Delhi: Main accused, Sanji Ram, in the gangrape and murder of the eight-year-old nomadic Muslim girl in Kathua told the Supreme Court that he was innocent and the probe should be handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to get to the "real culprits".

With an aim towards driving out her Bakerwal community in January, the eight-year-old girl, was kidnapped, sedated and gangraped repeatedly for days before her head was bashed with stone. The brutality of the crime came fore to the country after the chilling details the minor’s murder emerged over the past month.

In April, the outrage forced the Central government to include death as one of the penalties for raping children.

Read: Kathua case: Meerut student went to J&K to rape 8-yr-old, says chargesheet

Two ministers in Mehbooba Mufti cabinet also had to quit after they were seen supporting demands for a CBI inquiry from the eight accused in this case. BJP leaders later said the ministers had to pay for indiscretion but there was nothing wrong in demanding a CBI probe.

In their affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, Sanji Ram and his son Vishal repeated the request.

Sanji Ram said he was "like a grand-father" to the victim and had been framed by police officers biased against them. The affidavit said he not only wanted justice for the victim but "fair treatment" for the accused as well.

Also Read: False implication, transfer probe to CBI: Kathua rape accused urges SC

He also opposed the petition to transfer the trial against the eight accused outside Jammu and Kashmir to Chandigarh.

Sanji Ram insisted that there was no real reason to transfer the trial as there was no threat to the victim's family. Instead, he claimed that it was accused like him who had been threatened and the trial couldn't be shifted out on the basis of apprehension.

Sanji Ram also insisted that the lawyer representing the victim’s family - Deepika Singh Rajawat, who had approached the Supreme Court, was not a lawyer in the trial court and security given to her should be revoked.

Deepika Singh Rajawat had moved the Supreme Court saying that there was a threat to her life.

"I don't know how long I will be alive. I can be raped...My modesty can be outraged. I can be killed, I can be damaged. I was threatened yesterday that 'we will not forgive you'. I am going to tell the Supreme Court tomorrow that I am in danger," Rajawat said in April before the victim's father asked the apex court to transfer the trial to Kathua.

Also Read: I can be killed and raped: Kathua rape victim's counsel receives threats