Kathua case: Victim’s father duped of Rs 10 lakh donations money

NEW DELHI: The miseries and worries of the family of the Kathua rape and murder victim are far from over.

The adoptive father of the 8-year-old girl has been duped of 10 lakh rupees that was sent to him through online donations, reported the India Today.

Reports suggest that anonymous people siphoned off the amount from his bank account as he remains isolated from neighbours in his village.

Speaking to India Today, the man still under the dilemma of recovering over the loss of her daughter said, “Someone has withdrawn more than Rs 10 lakh from our joint account. We have no information about it. The statement shows consistent withdrawal and we are only left with Rs 35,000 in the account. We were told over Rs 1 crore had been donated from all over the world, but don’t know where it went.”

He said that within three months, over Rs 10 lakh been siphoned off from his bank account in different transactions, but not by the holder.

The family is unable to read or write and resorts to thumb impressions for such transactions.

The grief-stricken father showed the passbook and analyzed entries and asked, “Where has the money gone? We are uneducated and do not know what happened.”

After the case came into limelight, the bank also responded.

“Bank received the cheques with proper dates and impression. The family can block the cheque book, till further notice. Someone within their known circle has had access to all details and ensured bank protocol was followed,” said the branch head of Jammu and Kashmir Bank, where the account was opened.

On April 24, 2018, Ketto Online Ventures first transferred Rs 18,46,774 to the account — via a crowdfunding campaign. Eventually, with more inflow of donations, the balance in the man’s account was Rs 19,23,774.

The gang rape and murder case of Bakherwal girl had shocked the country and the case is still ongoing in the court of law.