A local court on Tuesday dismissed the bail petition of the juvenile accused in the case of alleged rape followed by murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district in January, PTI reported.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Amarjeet Singh Langeh observed that the crime prima facie appeared to be grave and heinous, not juvenile, The Indian Express reported. Langdeh pointed out that he could not ignore factors such as the depravity of the alleged crime and the public outrage, and said that the “scales of justice are hugely tilted against the [bail] application as of now”.
The boy was produced in court on Wednesday as well. The next hearing is scheduled for May 7, ANI reported.
The counsel for the juvenile accused had applied for bail after the state police’s crime branch filed a chargesheet against him and seven adults in the case on April 9.
The girl was found dead on January 17, a week after she had gone missing in a village. The chargesheet filed by the Crime Branch of the state police said she had been held captive in a temple, drugged, allegedly raped repeatedly and then strangled. The juvenile allegedly lured the girl to a secluded place on the pretext of helping her find her missing horses, and then took her to the temple.
The crime has sparked several protests and counter protests across the country.
On Monday, two of the accused policemen in the case moved the Jammu and Kashmir High Court seeking a fresh inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation. They also wanted the investigation by the state Crime Branch to be quashed.
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