E-Paper
Bail for 13 in Shopian rape case
A Srinagar court on Wednesday granted bail to all 13 accused by the CBI of fabricating evidences and “inducing witnesses for false statements” in a case of deaths of a teenager and her sister-in-law in south Kashmir’s Shopian town.
A Srinagar court on Wednesday granted bail to all 13 accused by the CBI of fabricating evidences and “inducing witnesses for false statements” in a case of deaths of a teenager and her sister-in-law in south Kashmir’s Shopian town.
The accused were asked to furnish a bail bond of Rs 10,000 each. The 13 include six doctors and five lawyers.
Completing its investigation into allegations of rape and murder of Asiya Jan (17) and Nelofar Jan (22), the CBI on December 10 had termed their deaths “accidental drowning”, and filed a chargesheet against the 13.
The bodies of Asiya and Nelofar were found on May 30 in a stream in Shopian. The deaths triggered protests, with locals accusing security forces.
The chargesheet says “concerted efforts were made to create false evidence by creating false post-mortem reports, (taking) fudged slides of samples from dead bodies and inducing the witnesses to implicate the police (and) security forces in a false case of rape and murder”.
On Wednesday morning, all accused –– except Dr Nighat Shaheen, Dr Bilal Ahmad and Dr Nazia Hassan, who were represented by their counsels –– were present before the chief judicial magistrate.
The next date of hearing is April 17.
