Eight-year-old Kathua rape victim, belonging to the nomadic Bakerwal tribe, was found dead in the adjoining forest area on January 17 in the Hiranagar area of Kathua, a week after she went missing. The little girl was repeatedly raped, starved, drugged and then eventually killed.
The country is witnessing an uproar of protests along its length and breadth. Deepika Singh Rajawat, a braveheart lawyer is fighting victim’s case. In spite of receiving death threats and accusations asking her to withdraw from the case, she has remained firm to help the victim get justice.
It was only after the 38-year-old lawyer filed a writ petition at the Jammu and Kashmir High Court, the investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch.
Despite receiving open threats, the mother of a 5-year-old daughter hasn’t given up and her focus is reportedly on seeking justice for the victim and her family.
“If they (lawyers) say the real culprits are being shielded, the onus is on them to name the real culprits,” she said. “They are calling me anti-national and anti-Jammu; I am not an alien, I am from Jammu,” she added.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQrcgAZPG-I&feature=youtu.be
Deepika Singh Rajawat speaks in New Delhi on April 15:
Rajawat narrating the ordeal of eight-year-old, in the video says “There were bite marks on her body, there were marks of electric shock on her hands. Her face was injured and she was hit with stones; the eight-year-old child was killed.”
She was gang-raped and murdered, says Rajawat. “Don’t we people feel ashamed? Do we belong to a civilized society? Is our upbringing so pathetic that we’ll make an eight-year-old a victim of our barbarianism?” asks Rajawat in the public gathering.
The fast-tracked trial of eight men accused in the case began on April 16 in a court in Kathua. The accused pleaded not guilty and asked to undergo chemical lie-detector tests.
In the brief first day of the trial, the court requested copies of the police charges to be shared with the suspects’ legal teams and said the trial would resume on April 28.