Daily Bulletin: Verdict in Kathua rape, murder case likely today, BJP calls for 12-hour Basirhat bandh in West Bengal; day's top stories

Verdict in Kathua rape and murder case likely today The verdict in the case of rape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir is likely to be delivered by a Pathankot special court on Monday. The verdict comes amid tension and outrage over the murder of a two-year-old girl in Uttar Pradesh's Aligarh last week. The in-camera trial in the case ended on 3 June, when district and sessions judge Tejwinder Singh had announced that the verdict may be delivered on 10 June. Elaborate security arrangements have been made in and around the court and in Kathua in view of the pronouncement of the judgment. [caption id=“attachment_5228511” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File photo of women at a protest against rape. PTI[/caption] According to the 15-page charge sheet, the eight-year-old girl, who was kidnapped on 10 January last year, was allegedly raped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district after having been kept sedated for four days before she was killed. The day-to-day trial commenced in the first week of June last year at the district and sessions court in Pathankot in the neighbouring state of Punjab, about 100 kilometres from Jammu and 30 kilometres from Kathua, after the Supreme Court ordered that the case be shifted out of Jammu and Kashmir. The Crime Branch arrested village head Sanji Ram, his son Vishal, juvenile nephew and his friend Anand Dutta, and two special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma. Head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Dutta, who allegedly took Rs 4 lakh from Sanji Ram and destroyed crucial evidence, were also arrested. Charges of rape and murder were framed by the district and sessions judge against seven out of the eight accused. The trial against the juvenile is yet to begin as his petition on determining his age is to be heard by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. BJP, TMC blame game over violence in West Bengal, MHA intervenes The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Trinamool Congress (TMC) accused each other of causing the incidents of violence on Saturday which killed at least four people. Reportedly, three BJP workers and one TMC worker lost their lives in the clashes that broke out in the Saneshkhali area of the North 24 Parganas district. On Sunday the blame game continued, even as the BJP leadership claimed that five of its supporters were killed in the clash, the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC said that six of its workers were missing. The police have so far recovered bodies of three people and are searching for the ones claimed missing. BJP leaders also faced-off with the West Bengal Police after the police stopped them from taking the bodies of two of its supporters to Kolkata from Basirhat in the district. The two sides engaged in a heated exchange of words. The BJP leadership later decided to take the bodies to the village of the two slain party workers. Their last rites were performed at their village at night. The saffron party has called a 12-hour bandh in Basirhat on Monday and decided to observe “Black Day” throughout the state, party sources said. On Wednesday, the BJP will march to the Kolkata Police headquarters of Lalbazar to protest against the violence in Sandeshkhali, they said. In an advisory to the West Bengal government, the Union Ministry of Home Affairs expressed “deep concern” over the continuing violence and asked it to maintain law and order. Both the state government and the ruling TMC criticised the Centre for the advisory. Later in the night, the state government shot back a letter saying situation in the state was under control and there was no failure on part of the state’s law enforcement machinery. Minor raped and killed in Bhopal, six policemen suspended The body of an eight-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped, was found near a drain in Bhopal on Sunday, reports said. Preliminary investigations revealed she died of strangulation after being raped, an officer was quoted by PTI as saying. Six police officials have been suspended for dereliction of duty and a reward of Rs 20,000 has been declared for providing information to nab the accused. The girl had ventured out of her house in Kamla Nagar area around 8 pm on Saturday to buy something. When she did not return, her family members approached the police that night. Inspector General (Bhopal zone) Yogesh Deshmukh told reporters that the police searched for the girl in the night and her body was found near a drain in the same area around 5 am on Sunday. According to an initial post mortem report, the girl “died of strangulation after rape”, Additional Superintendent of Police Akhil Patel told PTI. “We are waiting for a detailed report. We have identified an accused and a police team has launched a search for him.” India secure win Australia in face-off in ICC World Cup Shikhar Dhawan’s hundred and Team India’s bowling effort powered the team to a 36-run victory over Australia, and sounded a warning bell for their opponents in the World Cup on Sunday. The legend of Dhawan in ICC tournaments continued to grow as his 117-run streak formed the cornerstone of a batting display that propelled India to a commanding 352 for five. In reply, Australia managed to notch up 316 in 50 overs with Steve Smith (69 off 70 balls) and David Warner’s (56 off 84 balls) half-centuries being of little consequence. After a professional run-chase against South Africa in the opener, the second match saw the ‘Men In Blue’ burying the five-time world champions under a deluge of runs. An astounding 131 dot balls (21.5 overs) were bowled by Indian bowlers which ultimately made the difference. South Africa face West Indies in ICC Cricket World Cup in search of first win South Africa will look for their first win in the ICC Cricket World Cup when they take on West Indies in Monday’s game to be held at The Rose Bowl, Southampton. South Africa have lost all their three matches in the World Cup so far whereas Windies have managed to win one and lose one. Windies beat Pakistan by seven wickets in their first match but lost to Australia by 15 runs in their next match.