Police Officer, Arrested for Rape and Murder of 8-year-old in Kathua, Was Part of Search Party

Srinagar: A police officer, who was part of the team formed to trace the eight-year-old Nomad girl, later found raped and murdered in Jammu’s Kathua district, has now been arrested for committing the crime.

Special Police officer, Deepak Khajuria (28) was arrested by Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the crime branch. The police had initially nabbed a 15-year-old boy, who had confessed to the crime, in the case.

Sources say Khajuria threatened the boy with dire consequences if his name was revealed.

Last month, when a nomad family from Kathua district, 80 kilometres from Jammu, filed a missing report for the eight-year-old daughter, Khajuria was among those appointed to trace her. A week later, the body of the girl was found in a bush and investigations revealed she had been raped and tortured before being murdered.

The girl was kidnapped when she had left her home to herd horses at Rasana village on January 10.

Police say, Khajuria and they boy, both raped and tortured the girl after holding her captive for a week.

The officer said the accused confessed to the crime when confronted with the evidence. The motive was to spark fear among the nomad community.

Furthermore, Khajuria was part of the police team that had searched the area and nearby villages to find the girl. The girl’s family alleges that the police officer was the one who started to beat them with his baton when they sat in protest on January 21. Several people were injured after the police action.

“He was part of the search party but not the investigating team,” said ADGP Puri, before adding that investigations had now found that the kidnapping, rape and murder were well-planned and the girl selected in advance.

Those seeking justice for the girl claim that they knew since Day 1, the involvement of the police officer. “We were lathicharged on the day of the girl’s funeral. This man has hounded and beat up nomads. We have been asking for his arrest since the very first day,” said Talib Hussain, an activist, who was arrested during the protest.

Earlier, a juvenile had been arrested for the crime but after allegations of a botched up investigation were levelled against Kathua Police and opposition parties attacked the government in the J&K assembly, the case was handed over to the crime branch.

When asked if this was the final piece of the jigsaw, ADGP Alok Puri said, “At this juncture, I cannot rule out the involvement of someone else.”