Rape case: 6 yrs on, forensic report nails accused
Six years after a 13-year-old girl was raped and murdered in frontier Kupwara district in the Valley, a forensic report has confirmed involvement of the accused. The findings have now forced the lower court to fast track the trails of the four accused, who have been in police custody for years.
Six years after a 13-year-old girl was raped and murdered in frontier Kupwara district in the Valley, a forensic report has confirmed involvement of the accused.
The findings have now forced the lower court to fast track the trails of the four accused, who have been in police custody for years.
The Forensic Sciences Laboratory (FSL) in Chandigarh has confirmed the involvement that the DNA samples of the accused matched those collected from the clothes of the victim. The current findings have led the court to order a fast track trial of the case. Two locals and two non-local persons were arrested in the case.
The Tabinda Gani rape and murder case had sent shock waves across the Valley in July 2007. Large-scale protests were witnessed across the state. The family and social activists had for long demanded justice for Tabinda.
The protests had led the Ghulam Nabi Azad government to announce Rs 1-lakh reward for those who provided information about the culprits. The government had also promised exgratia for the family along with free educational scholarship for Tabinda's two brothers.
The family had, however, refused the offer. All the four accused are already in police custody.
"An expert from FSL, Chandigarh, has revealed in the sessions court at Kupwara that the blood samples collected from the clothes of the deceased during the post-mortem matched the DNA of all the four accused against whom the trial is on," said senior prosecuting officer Ghulam Mohammad Shah.
"There were 88 witnesses in the case and all have recorded their statements. The court has now decided to have two to three hearings of the case every week so that justice can be delivered fast," he added.
Meanwhile, the sessions court in Kupwara has fixed June 12 as the next date of hearing in the case.
According to the family, Tabinda had met her brother, a schoolteacher, on her way back from the school.
However, when he failed to find her at home, a missing report was lodged in the local police. The police had found her body in an orchard along with her school bag and shoes.
The police report said the four accused had waited for her in the orchard. The accused later raped and murdered her and abandoned her body in the orchard.
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