Kathua rape-murder accused Sanji Ram planned to kill 8-year-old victim to save son: Investigators

Mangalore Today News Network

Apr 27, 2018: Police investigating the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua say that Sanji Ram, one of the main accused, has told them during interrogation that he learnt about the rape four days after her abduction, and decided to have her killed because his son was also involved in the sexual assault.

 

The investigators say the girl, who was kidnapped on January 10, was first raped the same day by Ram’s nephew, a juvenile, and was killed on January 14. Her body was found on January 17 in a forest.

Along with the juvenile, Ram and son Vishal, five others have been charged in the case, which has shaken the nation and led to the government promulgating an ordinance mandating death sentence for the rape of a child aged 12 and below.

The investigators told PTI that the girl, from the Muslim Bakarwal community, was kept in a ’devisthan’, a small temple, where Ram was the custodian. The aim of the kidnapping was to scare and drive away the nomadic Gujjar and Bakarwal communities from the Hindu dominated area, they said.

Ram’s lawyer, Ankur Sharma, refused to comment on the investigators’ version of the incidents, saying it would not be appropriate for him to discuss defence strategy. "At least the defence lawyer should not be commenting on the merits of the case. It is like leaking your strategy as a defence lawyer," he told PTI.

Courtesy: Indiatoday