Jammu, Oct 17 The Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch on Saturday filed a chargesheet against 15 people in the Kishtwar minor’s rape and death case, alleging a criminal conspiracy to cover up the sexual assault, intimidate the girl’s family, and terminate her advanced pregnancy through unauthorised and unsafe methods.
The chargesheet, running into more than 1,000 pages and citing 143 witnesses, invokes provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, an official said.
The 15-year-old tribal girl was allegedly sexually assaulted repeatedly over several months by a teacher in her school, resulting in her pregnancy. She died following an alleged attempt to terminate the pregnancy in the Chatroo area on August 20.
The case was initially registered at the Chatroo police station following the girl’s death. A week later, amid widespread protests, the investigation was transferred to the Special Crime Wing in Jammu. By then, nine people, including the teacher and his brother, had been arrested.
Inspector General of Police, Crime, Sarah Rizvi, constituted a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Senior Superintendent of Police, Special Crime Wing, Jammu, Sanjay Kumar Parihar, immediately after the Crime Branch took over the investigation, the spokesperson said.
He said the chargesheet was filed before the court of the Principal District and Sessions Judge in Kishtwar within 60 days of the SIT taking over the investigation on August 29, he said.
Those named in the chargesheet included the main accused Khalid Hussain, several health workers who allegedly assisted in the attempted abortion, and others accused of pressuring the victim’s family to reach a compromise to protect Hussain.
Among the accused, two doctors and another person have been charged under Section 21 read with Section 19 of the POCSO Act for failing to report the matter to the police despite having knowledge of the minor victim’s pregnancy, the spokesperson said.
He said the investigation has revealed that the victim’s pregnancy came to light during a medical examination at Public Health Centre in Chatroo on August 10. Instead of reporting the matter to the police, as the law mandates in cases involving minors, Hussain, who was then posted as in-charge headmaster of a government school in the area, allegedly conspired with others to suppress the matter and arrange for the pregnancy to be terminated.
Those allegedly involved included two of Hussain’s brothers, a brother-in-law, some associates and two influential community elders of the area, one of whom is his uncle.
“The victim’s father was prevented from approaching the police and was subjected to pressure and intimidation, including the threat of social boycott,” the spokesperson said.
“A settlement deed (Razi-nama) was prepared in a local meeting at the residence of one of the accused. The SIT has seized this document, and the expert opinion of Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) Jammu has confirmed the authorship of the writing and the signatures on it,” he said.
As part of the alleged conspiracy, a junior staff nurse and two sanitary workers of District Hospital Kishtwar were drawn into the attempt to terminate the pregnancy, for which payment was also made, he said.
On August 19 and 20, the victim’s age was falsely recorded as an adult on hospital registration slips, and unauthorised and unsafe methods were used inside and outside the hospital to terminate the advanced pregnancy, he said.
As her condition deteriorated, the girl was taken in a private vehicle belonging to the main accused to Government Medical College (GMC) in Doda. Doctors there referred her to GMC Jammu after finding her condition critical, but she died on the way at Udhampur, the spokesperson said.
He said the investigation has also revealed that the vehicle used to transport the victim was later washed in an attempt to destroy evidence.
The chargesheet is based on statements of key witnesses, including the victim’s parents, recorded under Section 183 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), along with analysis of call detail records, CCTV camera footage, bank and ATM transaction records, hospital records, and seized documents and articles, the spokesperson said.
During the initial investigation by the SIT of Kishtwar Police, DNA samples of the victim and the newborn, collected at District Hospital Kishtwar, were sent to Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) in Chandigarh for comparison with samples from the main accused and his brother, another accused.
The Crime Branch SIT has since collected more samples from other accused and suspects and sent them to CFSL, he said, adding that digital and technical evidence has also been sent to CFSL/FSL for data retrieval.
The spokesperson said the reports of the tests are awaited, and Crime Branch Headquarters has requested their priority processing. Further investigation will be completed after the reports are received, following which a supplementary chargesheet will be filed before the competent court, he said.
The accused teacher has been dismissed from service, while the contracts of two sanitation workers at the Kishtwar district hospital were terminated following their arrests. Several others, including a teacher and a doctor, were placed under suspension pending an inquiry.
The Crime Branch has urged people not to circulate unverified information on social media and appealed to anyone having relevant information to share it with the SIT, assuring that their identities would be kept confidential.
It reiterated its commitment to a fair, impartial and thorough investigation and said all further legal action would be taken in accordance with the law.
(PTI News)
