Deepika Singh Rajawat, a lawyer representing the victim’s kin, will personally appear before the apex court to inform it about the alleged threats she has received.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court will hear a plea Monday to shift the Kathua rape-and-murder trial out of Jammu & Kashmir amid fears of a threat to the lawyers and the family of the eight-year-old victim.
Deepika Singh Rajawat, a lawyer representing the victim’s kin, will personally appear before the apex court to inform it about the alleged threats she has received, including from some lawyers in Jammu.
“I don’t know till when I will be alive. I can be raped, my modesty can be outraged, I can be killed, I can be damaged,” Rajawat, who flew down to Delhi Saturday, told the media here.
She has alleged that Jammu bar association president B.S. Slathia had threatened her, saying he knew “how to stop” her if she appeared for the victim’s family.
After it was reported that several politicians were meeting the juvenile accused at the home where he is detained, the family has also asked the court to ensure that no unauthorised person is allowed to meet him there or when he is required in court for deposition.
Senior advocate Indira Jaising is likely to argue for the victim’s family and ask the court to monitor the investigation. The crime branch of the J&K police is currently investigating the case but the families of the eight accused, along with locals from Rasana, the site of the crime, and nearby villages, have been on an indefinite chain hunger protest on the Kathua-Jammu highway for the past fortnight seeking a CBI inquiry.
The plea before the Supreme Court comes just two days after chief minister Mehbooba Mufti Saturday said she would seek a fast-track 90-day trial in the gang rape and murder. Meanwhile, the first stage of trial, where the judge examines the chargesheet and approves charges against the accused, is set to begin Monday in Kathua.
Apart from shifting the trial to Chandigarh from Jammu, the family has also sought police protection for themselves, Rajawat and Talib Hussian, another lawyer representing them in Udhampur.
Hussain was also reportedly attacked by a mob in Udhampur last week. In January, he was arrested by the state police at a protest rally and was released subsequently after public outrage against the government.
A perfectly legitimate request.