JJB gives CB 2 weeks’ time as HC yet to decide on age

JAMMU: A juvenile justice board hearing the case of the eighth accused in the gangrape and murder of a minor girl in Rasana village of Kathua has pushed further the commencement to trial by two weeks, after the State Crime Branch moved before it a plea seeking deferment of the trial as the state high court is yet to decide whether the accused is a minor or not.

There were 8 accused in the case which had shocked the entire nation in January 2018. Six of them were convicted and seventh was acquitted by Pathankot District and Sessions Court last month, whereas the fate of the last one—who was accused to raping and murdering the girl-- was pending over contesting claims over his age.

Taking the crime branch by surprise, a juvenile justice board here had framed charges against the said minor--- accused of raping and murdering the young girl-- and had fixed Monday for examining prosecution witnesses and commencing trial.

However, on Monday, the special public prosecutor of the crime branch submitted before the board that the high court is yet to pronounce its decision on an application moved against the decision of a Kathua court which accepted the accused's claim that he is a minor.

The board, after examining the plea of the crime branch, however, made it clear that there was no stay by the high court on holding the trial.

It, however, gave prosecution two weeks to produce evidence and its witnesses in the case.

The crime branch had filed a petition in the high court against the accused's claim of being a juvenile and said that the then chief judicial magistrate in Kathua had erred in accepting it.

The crime branch had also annexed a report of the medical board of Government Medical College, Jammu, which said the accused was "not less than 19 and not more than 21" years of age.
However, the case has seen repeated adjournments last year.

The juvenile justice board had framed charges on July 8 following which it issued a notice to the crime branch, asking them to bring in their prosecution evidence and witnesses for the trial.

According to the notice, "the next date of hearing has been fixed on July 15".

"The case has been fixed for prosecution evidence... Kindly arrange the presence of public prosecutor appointed in the case so as to examine the prosecution evidence/ witnesses," it said.

The trial in this case was shifted to the Pathankot Sessions Court on the directions of the Supreme Court last year.

The Pathankot Sessions Court had on June 10 this year sentenced Sanji Ram, dismissed special police officer Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar to life imprisonment, while sacked policemen Anand Dutta, Tilak Raj and Surender Verma were handed five years in jail, while Sanji Ram’s son Vishal Jangotra was acquitted.

The verdict came 17 months after the girl was brutally gang-raped inside a 'devisathan' (local temple) and later killed. She was kidnapped on January 10 and her body was found on January 17.

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