Jammu: The probe into the alleged rape and subsequent death of a 15-year-old tribal girl in a remote Kishtwar village was handed over to the Crime Branch on Saturday, shortly after her father approached the high court for an investigation.
The teenager, allegedly raped by her school teacher over several months, died on August 20 during a pregnancy termination procedure.
Police have constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the incident and have so far arrested six persons, including the school headmaster, the main accused, a nurse, and a daily-wage sanitary worker posted at District Hospital Kishtwar.
The government has suspended the teacher pending an inquiry, while the daily-wage worker has been dismissed from service.
Kishtwar saw a complete shutdown on Thursday over the incident.
Inspector General of Police, Crime Branch, Sarah Rizvi, confirmed that the agency had received communication from the Police Headquarters regarding the transfer of the case.
“We are in the process of taking over the case,” she told PTI.
Congress leader G M Saroori expressed his gratitude to Lt Governor Manoj Sinha for the case transfer.
Saroori recently met the teenager’s family and later spoke to Sinha on the phone, requesting that the case be transferred to the Crime Branch.
“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,” the former minister said.
Earlier in the day, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh admitted a writ petition filed by the victim’s father seeking a Crime Branch probe into the incident.
“The matter has been listed for hearing on Monday,” senior advocate Deepika Pushkar Nath, who represents the family, told PTI.
Nath said, among other things, the plea seeks a probe into alleged panchayat intervention and an attempt to pressure the girl’s father for a compromise.
“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,” she said.
The lawyer said that the role of the panchayat assumes importance in the case considering the girl’s impoverished and illiterate father was allegedly offered money to remain silent and made to affix his thumb impression on blank paper.
“These allegations cannot be treated as an isolated or incidental episode, particularly when they arose after the minor’s pregnancy came to light,” she said.
According to the petition, after the pregnancy became known, people allegedly associated with the main accused became involved and a panchayat was convened.
The plea seeks identification and examination of all persons present at the gathering, the circumstances in which the document was prepared and the thumb impression obtained, and the source and purpose of the money allegedly offered.
The family has claimed that they came to know of the pregnancy only when the girl developed a serious medical condition.
The petition traces a series of events beginning at her examination at a local public health centre, ultrasound, and treatment at the district hospital, her transfer to Doda, delivery of a dead male child, and subsequent transportation to Punjab, culminating in her death.
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It seeks investigation into the alleged attempts to terminate the pregnancy, the procurement and administration of medicines, the role of persons who transported or accompanied the girl, the treatment provided at different health facilities and the circumstances surrounding her death.
Nath said the petition seeks preservation and examination of hospital records, ultrasound reports, medical prescriptions, ambulance records, GPS/location data, CCTV footage, call-detail records, electronic communications, financial records and forensic/DNA evidence.
The minor was recorded in hospital records as the wife of a 13-year-old boy, the petition claims, and seeks the identification of the person or persons responsible for furnishing such information.
A scrutiny has been demanded into possible administrative, institutional or statutory lapses concerning the girl’s safety at her school.
“Our fight is far from over. We will continue to pursue every legal remedy and stand with the grieving family until justice is delivered to their daughter and accountability is ensured,” Nath said on X.
