Kathua rape and murder: Pathankot court frames charges against seven accused in the case

Pathankot: The district and sessions court in Pathankot on Thursday framed charges against seven of the eight accused of raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district in January, officials said. [caption id=“attachment_4433915” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of a protest following the Kathua rape and murder. PTI[/caption] The eighth accused in the case is a juvenile . The trial in the case began on 31 May , with the seven accused being produced before the district and sessions judge after the Supreme Court transferred the hearing outside Jammu and Kashmir for a fair trial after victim’s family filed a plea. While transferring the case from Kathua to Pathankot in Punjab, about 30 kilometres away, the top court directed a day-to-day, in-camera trial in the case. According to the 15-page chargesheet of the Jammu and Kashmir’s Crime Branch, the girl from a minority nomadic community was kidnapped on 10 January and allegedly raped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district. She was kept sedated for four days before being bludgeoned to death. Her body was found four days after she went missing.