Police file charge sheet in Bandipora minor rape case

Srinagar, May 25 (IANS) The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Saturday filed the charge sheet against the youth accused of raping a minor girl in Bandipora district earlier this month.

"The charge sheet was presented today in the special court of Principal District and Sessions Judge, Bandipora. It was presented within 17 days from the date the crime was committed," a police officer said.

The rape of a 3-year-old minor in Bandipora district on May 8 had evoked outrage with protests by students and others erupting in every city and town of the Valley.

Police had set up a special investigation team (SIT) to fast-track the investigation so that the accused, Tahir Ahmad Mir is brought to justice at the soonest.

Mir has been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Abuse (POCSO) Act, which entails a maximum sentence of a life term in cases of conviction.

Police also foiled attempts by Mir's family to fake his birth certificate to prove that he was a minor. The principal of the private school that had issued the certificate has been detained for questioning.

Medical examination of the accused by a board of doctors had also held that Mir, who is in the first year of a three-year degree course after passing his class 12 exam, was around 20 years old.

Meanwhile, the Jammu and Kashmir State Legal Services Authority has already released Rs 1 lakh as an interim relief to the minor rape victim.

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