Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has demanded death penalty for the rapists of Asifa, an 8-year-old Kashmiri girl, who was gang-raped before being killed.
“Nothing short of death penalty for these rapists,” tweeted Kejriwal. In another tweet, the Delhi chief minister wrote, “Absolutely nauseating. Some Hindutva organisations are supporting the rape accused because the girl was a Muslim and accused Hindus. But, you raped a Hindu girl in UP. You killed her Hindu father. You don’t spare anyone to satisfy your lust, whether Hindus or Muslims.”
Nothing short of death penalty for these rapists https://t.co/WBlmmuOjHN
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) April 12, 2018
Earlier this week, we reported how lawyers in Kathua had protested against filing of charge-sheet against the rape accused by the Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch officials. The Kathua Bar Association had later called for a bandh on 12 April against probe being carried out by the Crime Branch.
The judge too had refused to accept the charge-sheet for several hours. The development was termed as a black day for the Indian judiciary for some of their members’s decision to side with the rapists.
Asifa was gang-raped inside a temple in Kathua in January this year in a bid to force her Muslim nomad community’s migration from the area by people with Hindutva ideologies. A local police officer had first tried to kill her by attempting to break her little child’s neck with the help of his thigh. Later, one of his juvenile accomplices had trampled on the little child neck to kill her.
According to the charge-sheet, the police officer in question had asked the others to “wait because he wanted to rape” her one last time. One of the rapists was called from Meerut to “satisfy his lust”. The girl was confined using sedatives inside a Hindu temple, then strangled and hit on the head twice with a stone — “in order to make sure” she was dead.
The latest revelations sent shock-waves across the world. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is usually quick to tweet on such matters has refrained from expressing his outrage on Asifa’s gang-rape and subsequent murder.
This, however, did not stop other celebrities from expressing their outrage. Tennis sensation Sania Mirza wrote, “Is this really the kind of country we we want to be known as to the world today ?? If we can’t stand up now for this 8 year old girl regardless of our gender,caste,colour or religion then we don’t stand for anything in this world.. not even humanity.. makes me sick to the stomach.”
According to the chargesheet, the mastermind behind the rape and murder is retired revenue official Sanji Ram who is among the eight arrested, along with his son Vishal Jangotra and nephew, believed to be a juvenile.
The Crime Branch had also arrested Special Police Officers (SPOs) Deepak Khajuria and Surinder Kumar, a Rasana resident Parvesh Kumar, Assistant Sub Inspector Anand Dutta and Head Constable Tilak Raj in the case. Dutta and Raj were arrested on charges of attempting to destroy evidence.