None of 17 prosecution witnesses turn up in court

Ravi Dhaliwal

Tribune News Service

Pathankot, June 8

None of the 17 witnesses, who were scheduled to give evidence before District and Sessions Judge Dr Tejwinder Singh in the Kathua rape and murder case, appeared in the court on Friday.

Taking cognisance, the judge informed the J&K DGP about the day’s developments. He simultaneously asked the SSP (Crime Branch) to be present in the court on June 11, the next date of hearing. Saturday is a holiday in the court. The court proceedings commence at 11 am and conclude at 4 pm every day. This is to facilitate the return of the accused to the Kathua sub-jail before 5 pm.

Jammu and Kashmir Government’s Special Public Prosecutors (SPP) Santokh Singh Basra and Jagdeshwar Kumar Chopra, who is also the Pathankot district attorney, confirmed that all 17 witnesses who were scheduled to be examined on Friday were prosecution witnesses.

Chopra added that summons could not be served upon the witnesses because it was holiday in J&K due to Ramzan. There are a total of 221 witnesses in the case.

SPP Basra added that the same witnesses, after deposing in the court of the District and Sessions Judge, would again have to give evidence when the trial of the juvenile commences in the court.

Confusion still remains on the status of the juvenile, who is accused Sanjhi Ram’s nephew. The Crime Branch of the J&K Police has petitioned the Jammu and Kashmir High Court claiming that he was not a juvenile.

On June 11, the judge will also pass orders on an application filed by the defence counsel of accused Parvesh Kumar, claiming that his client was a juvenile. The evidence to be produced by the defence counsel will be taken into cognisance by the judge before deciding his application. Basra had contended that Parvesh was a major.

The Supreme Court has directed that the trial be held on a day-to-day basis. An eight-year-old girl, who was kidnapped on January 10, was allegedly raped in captivity in a village temple in Kathua district. She was sedated for several days before being bludgeoned to death. The body was recovered from a forest area on January 17.