PTI, JAMMU: The brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old Bakerwal girl has polarised the normally peaceful town of Jammu, with the local Bar Association calling for a bandh against what it termed the “targeting of minority Dogras” while the state police lodged a case today against lawyers who allegedly tried to prevent it from filing a charge sheet against the accused.
The high-profile case has even divided the state’s polity, with at least two BJP ministers in the Mehbooba Mufti government questioning the role of the police.
The victim, who belonged to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community, had disappeared from near her home in the forests next to Rasana village in Kathua, 90 kms from here, on January 10.
A week later, her body was found in the same area, and medical examination pointed towards sexual assault.
During initial investigations, police arrested a juvenile. Later the case was transferred to Jammu and Kashmir police’s crime branch with clear instructions from Director General of Police S P Vaid to catch the culprits, no matter how high and mighty.
