United Nations: Terming the gangrape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district as ‘horrific’, United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres hoped that the accused are duly punished for the crime. When asked about the Secretary General’s response to the rape and murder of the girl Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujjaric told reporters at his daily press briefing “I think we’ve seen the media reports of this horrific case, of the abuse and the murder of a young girl. We very much hope that the authorities will bring the perpetrators to justice so they can be held accountable for the murder of this young girl.”
It must be recalled that a girl named Asifa belonging to the nomadic Bakerwal Muslim community went missing on January 10. Her body was found a week later. During the period she was drugged and raped by as many as six men. The incident sparked nationwide protests.
Slamming the Central government, Congress president Rahul Gandhi had called for a candlelight vigil in Delhi demanding justice in the Kathua rape and murder case and Unnao rape case.
The Women and Child Development Minister Maneka Gandhi also expressed shock on the incident and proposed an amendment in the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) ACT to bring in the death penalty for those found guilty of raping children aged 12 years or below.
Celebrities and athletes including Cricketer Gautam Gambhir, Renuka Shahane and others too came forward to express their anguish and called for justice for the eight-year-old girl.