SRINAGAR: The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Thursday issued notice to the accused and the Jammu and Kashmir government on a petition seeking an enhancement of the sentence awarded to the convicts of rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu's Kathua in 2018. A Bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and H.S. Sidhu, while issuing the notice to the respondents, fixed the case for August 7.
“The court has issued notice to all the accused and the State of Jammu and Kashmir in the matter,” lawyer of the victim's family Utsav Bains told reporters. The girl from the nomadic Bakerwal community was kidnapped from Rasana area on January 10 in 2018 and found dead on January 17. The victim’s father had approached the High Court seeking an enhancement of the sentence awarded to six convicts. In his petition, he also challenged the acquittal of one accused.
Last month, a special court in Pathankot sentenced three of the six men to life imprisonment and awarded five years in prison to the rest. One of the accused was acquitted. The victim’s father has pleaded that it's a rarest of the rare cases and as per the standards set by the Supreme Court.