New Delhi: The eight-year-old Kathua rape victim while allegedly held captive in a temple was fed on a strong sedative, Epitril 0.5 pills.
A report published by Hindustan Times quoted crime branch officer as saying, “Doctors said they have never administered more than 0.5 mg a day of this very strong sedative to their patients.” The child victim was forced to swallow eight pills over a three-day period, the official added.
The officer said that parents of the victim reached the temple one day after her abduction but were not allowed to enter its building and were sent away from the gates itself. Due to the extreme cold, the dead body did not decompose and provided alleged criminals extra time.
“The girl was killed on January 13 and was kept in the temple until January 16 without any worry of stench,” the officer said.
On the other hand, the family of alleged mastermind, a 62-year-old retired revenue department official Sanji Ram, denied all allegations saying: “Why would he dump the body barely 100 metres from his home?” asked his wife. Adding there was the whole forest to hide the dead body.
About Ram’s 22-year-old son Vishal Jangotra – another accused – the family said he was in Meerut during the incident. Additionally, they produced images of exam attendance sheets from his university. However, the forensic team claimed the signature did not match that of the accused in the examination sheet, police said.
The police charge sheet has stated that the juvenile accused, who abducted the victim, had called his friend, Vishal, before raping her; asking him if he would also like to rape the little girl and “satisfy his lust”. Vishal had then allegedly reached Kathua the next morning on January 12 to violate the sedated girl at the ‘Devsthan’.
When asked about the serious charges against Ram and Vishal, the family said, “The charge sheet was framed after the men were tortured and forced to confess. The juvenile accused told me that their nails were being ripped off and fingers twisted to extract a confession,” reported News18.
The family has further alleged that the juvenile was threatened by the police to name his uncle Sanji Ram or else Ram would be killed, fearing which he took Ram’s name.