Trial against minor in Kathua case to start today in Jammu and Kashmir

The Jammu and Kashmir High Court refused to entertain a plea for an early hearing of a petition challenging his status as a minor.

The trial against a juvenile accused in the rape-and-murder case of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua in 2018 will begin on Monday as the Jammu and Kashmir high court refused to entertain a plea for an early hearing of a petition challenging his status as a minor, officials said.

A man walks towards a temple where according to police an eight-year-old girl was held captive for a week and raped before being murdered in January, in Kathua near Jammu. (REUTERS)

The trial will begin before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), Kathua. The JJB had initiated the trial on July 15, but the crime branch said it was not ready to proceed as the status of the accused as a minor was yet to be decided. The crime branch said that the police had approached the HC challenging an order of the chief judicial magistrate last year in which the accused had been declared as a juvenile.

Hearing the petition, justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur said, “No case for preponement is made out. Let the matter be considered on its due date.” The matter is listed for August 5. The crime branch had approached the HC praying for an early hearing as the Juvenile Justice Board had started proceedings after framing of charges on July 8 against the “delinquent juvenile”.