SC Transfers Kathua Rape Case To Pathankot

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, transferred the Kathua rape and murder case and transferred it outside Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot in Punjab.

The court also stated that the trial will be carried out under the provisions of Ranbir Penal Code, applicable in Jammu and Kashmir.

The decision, which was taken by a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices D Y Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, also directed the Pathankot Court to record the proceedings and fast-track the case by conducting it on a day-to-day basis.

The apex court said the decision was taken to be fair to both sides – the accused and the victim. “The security provided to the juvenile accused will continue,” the bench was quoted by PTI.

The court will hear the matter in July, when it reopens after the summer vacation.

The court also directed for the translation of statements and records of the case from Urdu to English.

In January, an eight year old girl went missing and her body was found a week later. She was allegedly drugged and raped repeatedly in Kathua and later crushed to death with stones.

The victim’s father had cited apprehensions of death threats to his family and their lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat. The accused, on the other hand, wanted the trial to be handed over to the CBI.