3 days ago
Crime Branch Takes Over Kishtwar Girl’s Rape-Death Probe
A 15-year-old tribal girl from Kishtwar allegedly suffered sexual abuse over several months.
She became pregnant, and her family says they learned about it only when she became seriously ill.
The family alleges that people connected to her teacher tried to hide the pregnancy and pressure them into a settlement.
The girl was taken to medical facilities, including Kishtwar district hospital, where an attempt was allegedly made to end the pregnancy.
She was later taken to Doda, where the petition says she delivered a stillborn boy.
She died soon afterward, with reports placing her death on August 20.
Police have arrested six people, including the alleged teacher, hospital workers and his relatives.
The government has now transferred the case from a Special Investigation Team to the Crime Branch.
Her father has asked the High Court for a wider and independent investigation.
The Jammu and Kashmir government transferred the investigation into the alleged sexual assault and death of a 15-year-old tribal girl to the Crime Branch.
The girl allegedly suffered prolonged abuse by her schoolteacher and died after an attempted pregnancy termination on August 19 or August 20.
Six people were arrested, including the alleged headmaster, a nurse, a daily-wage sanitary worker and three of the headmaster’s relatives.
The girl’s father told the High Court that a panchayat and people linked to the headmaster pressured the family to accept money and suppress the pregnancy.
The family is seeking an independent probe into medical treatment, records, transport, communications, forensic evidence and possible school-level lapses.
- Who
- A 15-year-old tribal girl, her father, the alleged schoolteacher-headmaster and five other arrested people.
- What
- The Crime Branch is investigating the alleged sexual assault, attempted pregnancy termination, alleged cover-up and subsequent death.
- Where
- The events involved a remote Kishtwar village, medical facilities in Kishtwar and Doda, and the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
- When
- The alleged termination attempt occurred on August 19, the girl reportedly died on August 20, and the probe transfer was reported on August 29.
- Why
- The transfer followed allegations of prolonged abuse, a cover-up, pressure on the family and possible failures in the girl’s medical and institutional care.
Family’s Allegations
Authorities’ Investigation
Alleged cover-up
Family’s Allegations
The family alleges that people linked to the headmaster convened a panchayat, offered money, sought a compromise and obtained the father’s thumb impression on blank paper.
Authorities’ Investigation
Authorities have arrested six people and transferred the case to the Crime Branch to investigate whether a cover-up or other wrongdoing occurred.
Scope of the probe
Family’s Allegations
The family wants the investigation to cover the alleged abuse, pregnancy termination attempts, medical treatment, transport, communications, financial records, forensic evidence and school-related lapses.
Authorities’ Investigation
The Crime Branch is taking over the existing investigation, while officials have not publicly established which of the broader allegations are substantiated.
Medical-record entry
Family’s Allegations
The petition alleges that the girl was recorded at a healthcare facility as the wife of a 13-year-old boy linked to the headmaster’s relatives.
Authorities’ Investigation
The reports say the person responsible for providing that information remains to be identified through investigation.
Key facts
- Victim
- A 15-year-old tribal girl from a remote village in Kishtwar.
- Investigation
- The Crime Branch is taking over from a police-constituted Special Investigation Team.
- Arrests
- Six people were arrested, including the alleged headmaster, a nurse, a daily-wage sanitary worker and three relatives of the headmaster.
- Reported medical sequence
- The petition alleges an attempted termination in Kishtwar, transfer to Doda, delivery of a stillborn boy and the girl’s subsequent death.
- Pregnancy
- The petition stated that the girl was seven months pregnant when she died.
- Court action
- The High Court admitted the father’s writ petition seeking an independent Crime Branch investigation.
- Employment action
- The government suspended the teacher pending an inquiry and dismissed the daily-wage worker.
Quotes
Deepika Pushkar Nath
Senior advocate representing the victim’s family
“We have sought an independent investigation not only into the alleged rape of the minor but also into the entire chain of events that followed, leading to her death”
theprint.in
“We are in the process of taking over the case”
theprint.in
The minor’s father
Father of the deceased minor who filed a writ petition alleging a cover-up
“The circumstances in which the minor victim was brought to Kishtwar, the persons who accompanied her, the medical facility where the ultrasound was conducted, the medical records generated and the persons who were informed of its result are all material circumstances requiring investigation.”
indianexpress.com
G M Saroori
Congress leader and former minister
“The case has now been formally transferred to the Crime Branch, with SSP Sanjay Kumar Parihar and DySP Javed Iqbal Chowdhary set to head the investigation. I am highly thankful to the lieutenant governor for personally assuring and facilitating the transfer of the case to the Crime Branch”
theprint.in
Sources
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