Kathua rape case: 'Sanjhi Ram decided to kill 8-year-old after he found that his son was involved'

Jammu: One of the main accused in the Kathua rape case, Sanji Ram, has told the interrogators that he decided to have the eight-year-old girl, the victim, killed after he learnt that his son was also involved in the sexual assault. The investigators say the girl, who was kidnapped on January 10, was first raped the same day by Ram's nephew, a juvenile, and was killed on January 14. Her body was found on January 17 in a forest.

Along with the juvenile, Ram and his son Vishal, five others have been charged in the case, which has shaken the nation and led to the government promulgating an ordinance mandating a death sentence for the rape of a child aged 12 and below. The investigators told PTI that the girl, from the Muslim Bakarwal community, was kept in a 'devisthan', a small temple, where Ram was the custodian. The aim of the kidnapping was to scare and drive away the nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal communities from the Hindu dominated area, they said. Ram's lawyer Ankur Sharma refused to comment on the investigators' version of the incidents, saying it would not be appropriate for him to discuss defence strategy. "At least the defence lawyer should not be commenting on the merits of the case. It is like leaking your strategy as a defence lawyer," he told PTI.

Sanjhi claims he found out about the sexual assault only on January 13 when the nephew confessed to him, according to the investigators. He told them that he had performed prayers at the 'devisthan', and asked his nephew to take prasad home. But the nephew delayed doing so, and in anger, Ram beat him up, investigators said. However, the juvenile thought his uncle had found out that he had raped the girl, and spilt the beans, they said. They claim the juvenile also implicated his cousin, Vishal, saying they both had raped the girl inside the 'devisthan'. It was then that Ram decided "that time was ripe to kill the girl so as to achieve the ultimate goal" of scaring away the nomads, according to the chargesheet filed in the case. Investigators say Ram also convinced his nephew to confess to the crime. On the intervening night of January 13 and 14, the juvenile, Vishal and a friend, Parvesh Kumar alias Mannu, took the victim out of the 'devisthan'.

They were later joined by a special police officer Deepak Khajuria who wanted to rape her once more before she was killed, they said. She was murdered on January 14 as Ram did not want to leave any evidence that led to his son, investigators have found. But things did not go quite as planned, they said. The body of the child was to be transported and disposed of in the Hiranagar canal nearby. However, a vehicle could not be arranged in time. The juvenile, Vishal, Khajuria and Mannu lifted the body and took it back to the 'devisthan' while Ram kept watching outside, the chargesheet said. Further investigations showed that Ram told his nephew and his son the next day that his friend had refused to bring a car so the two had to throw it in the jungle. Preparations for the abduction had started on January 7 when sedatives and 'manar' (local cannabis or bhang) were purchased, the chargesheet said.

The child was sedated with 'manar' and kept in the 'devisthan' covered with a rug and a mattress weighing nearly 15 kg, investigators said. A senior police officer of the Crime Branch investigating the case consumed the 'manar' tablet in front of his colleagues and the medical team to understand the effect of the drug, it is learnt. The charge sheets -- a separate chargesheet was filed for the juvenile -- named Ram, his nephew, his son Vishal, SPOs Khajuria and Surender Verma and friend Mannu. While Ram has been charged with murder, kidnapping and destruction of evidence, Mannu has been charged with kidnapping. The other three have rape added to the list of charges. The chargesheet also names head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Dutta - wh