Kathua rape and murder case: How the gruesome sexual crime was committed

In a shocking incident, an eight-year-old girl was brutally raped by six men, held captive, sedatated, raped again and then bludgeoned to death. Reports state that the details of the gory crime were a part of the chargesheet filed by the the Jammu and Kashmir Police's Crime Branch.

The abduction, rape and killing of the Bakherwal girl was part of a carefully planned strategy to remove the minority nomadic community from the area, reveals the 15-page chargesheet filed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police's Crime Branch on Monday.

It lists Sanji Ram, the caretaker of the Devisthan, a small temple, in Rassana village in Kathua, as the main conspirator. He was allegedly joined by special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma, friend Parvesh Kumar, Ram's nephew, a juvenile, and his son Vishal Jangotra.

How the gruesome crime unfolded

• The eight-year-old goes missing on January 10 while grazing horses in the forest. Investigators say the accused abducted the girl on the pretext of helping her find her horses.
• The day after their daughter goes missing, the parents go to the Devisthan and ask Ram about her whereabouts. He says she may have gone to a relative's house.
• According to the chargesheet, the accused give the girl sedatives to make her unconscious while holding her in captivity at Devisthan.
• The juvenile, a school dropout, rapes the child repeatedly along with Jangotra and Khajuria.
• Jangotra reaches Rassana after his cousin's call and rapes the sedated girl along with the juvenile and Mannu. Ram and his nephew perform usual rituals to avoid suspicion.
• On Ram's direction, child is removed from temple and taken to culvert in nearby forest by Mannu, Jangotra and the juvenile with the intention of eliminating her
• According to the investigation, Khajuria also reaches the spot and tells them to wait as "he wanted to rape her before she is killed". Chargesheet says the girl is once again gangraped and later killed by the juvenile.

(With inputs from agencies)

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