Both sides not satisfied with Kathua rape and murder case verdict, say will move HC

Mubeen Farooqi, the lawyer of the girl’s family, called the verdict a victory of truth. He said they wanted the death penalty.

As the district and sessions court in Punjab’s Pathankot convicted six out of the seven accused in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua, both the defence and the prosecution seemed unsatisfied with the verdict.

Sanji Ram, one of the six men convicted in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir (Reuters File Photo)

Defence lawyers said they would challenge the verdict before the Punjab and Haryana High court. The prosecution, too, said they would to move the higher court seeking an increase in the quantum of the punishment and to challenge the acquittal of one of the accused, Vishal Jangotra. The court awarded life imprisonment to three accused. Three policemen were also sentenced to five years in prison for destruction of evidence.

Mubeen Farooqi, the lawyer of the girl’s family, called the verdict a victory of truth. He said they wanted the death penalty. “The court has awarded life imprisonment. We think the punishment needed to be a severe one. We plan to challenge this decision in the High Court and would seek the death penalty as a minor girl was raped and murdered.”

Defence lawyer Ankur Sharma called the judgement bad, baffling and prejudiced. “This is not a rarest of rare case as was cited by the prosecutors. If the court acquits the son of Sanjhi Ram [Jangotra], it cannot term him as the mastermind. We will definitely challenge this decision in the Punjab and Haryana High Court.”