Accused in Kathua gangrape moves Supreme Court, seeks CBI probe

The two prime accused in the kathua rape and murder case of an eight-year-old girl moved the Supreme Court on Wednesday challenging a plea filed by the victim's family seeking a transfer of the proceedings outside Jammu.

Earlier this month, the victim's father moved the top court seeking a transfer of the case outside Kathua, preferably to Chandigarh. At the same time, the family and their lawyer also sought police protection claiming threats from the family of the accused.

Sanji Ram and Vishal Jangotra, who have been chargesheeted by the crime branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police in the case, have also sought transfer of probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation besides seeking to be impleaded as parties in the petition filed by the father of the victim.

The Kathua case hit national headlines when local lawyers in Kathua attempted to prevent the police from filing a charge sheet accusing eight, including a minor of raping and murdering the child inside a temple.

Following widespread outrage over this heinous act, in a knee-jerk reaction, the Union Cabinet led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday passed an ordinance allowing death penalty to be awarded in cases of sexual assault against victims under 12.

Recently, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had ordered the state police to grant security to the family of the victim, their friend and their lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat.

The top court had also said it would later decide on the prayer for transfer of case out of Kathua in Jammu after the state government filed its reply.