Kathua gang-rape case: SC dismisses plea by accused seeking CBI probe, says no fit case to interfere in ongoing investigation

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea by an accused in the Kathua gang rape and murder case in Jammu and Kashmir this January seeking a CBI investigation in the matter, ANI reported. [caption id=“attachment_5313961” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Supreme Court of India. PTI[/caption] Free Press Journal reported that the accused filed the plea to the apex court on grounds that the probe conducted earlier was allegedly motivated. As per a report in the  The Times of India, the apex court dismissed the plea saying there is no need to order fresh probe in the case and it is not fit to interfere in the ongoing investigation. A bench of Justices UU Lalit and DY Chandrachud also dismissed a separate plea filed by two other accused in the case seeking transfer of investigation in the matter to an independent agency. The bench, while rejecting both the pleas, said the accused could raise the issue before the lower court in the ongoing trial. The state police’s crime branch, which probed the case, filed the main charge sheet against seven people and a separate charge sheet against a juvenile revealing chilling details about how the minor girl was allegedly kidnapped, drugged and raped inside a place of worship before being killed. The doctors who conducted a postmortem on the eight-year-old Kathua rape victim told a court that the girl was sexually assaulted and she died of asphyxia , a lawyer said.  As many as 54 witnesses have deposed before the court so far in the ongoing trial. With inputs from PTI