Kathua rape case: 8-year-old Bakarwal girl rape accused who claimed to be juvenile to be tried as an adult by Pathankot court

One of the juvenile accused among eight of rape and murder of 8-year-old Kathua girl will be treated as an adult by the Pathankot district and sessions court. The accused lost his bid on to be tried as a juvenile on Thursday. The Pathankot district and sessions court judge Tejwinder Singh passed these orders on the basis of the medical board's conclusion after the accused's ossification test.

Special Public Prosecutor JK Chopra said the court has accepted a medical report that said the accused was actually more than 20 years old, PTI reported on Thursday. The court also ruled that he would join them on Friday along with seven other accused.

The 8th accused claimed to be less than 18 years at the time of the crime and sought to be tried as a juvenile. On Thursday, Judge Singh rejected the defence’s plea and declared Kumar a “major”. Kumar’s counsel AK Sawhney said they will challenge the ruling in the Supreme Court, reports.

In January, the minor girl was abducted from her village in Jammu's Rasana and was drugged, starved, tortured and gang-raped for a week before her head was bashed in with a stone. The Jammu and Kashmir police said the assault was an attempt to push out a nomadic Muslim community--- Bakarwals from Hindu majority areas of Jammu.

In May, the Supreme Court accepted the victim's father appeal to shift the case from Jammu court to Pathankot after the matter triggered a backlash in the Hindu-majority Jammu. Rallies were held by Hindu sang to show support for the accused, which even drew a couple of state BJP ministers. They had to step down later.

Jammu lawyer Deepika Rajawat, the advocate representing the child's family, had to face threats from members of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court Bar Association, who wanted her to drop the case. The association denied the allegation. The hearing on the case will be now done in the Pathankot court.