Kathua rape case: Victim sexually assaulted and died out of asphyxia

NEW DELHI: The doctors who conducted the autopsy of an eight-year-old  Kathua rape victim have revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and died of asphyxiation. Special Public Prosecutor JK Chopra, who is representing the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s crime branch  said the doctor’s statement have strengthened his case.

The doctors recently recorded their statement in the court of the chief judicial magistrate. The doctors who conducted the postmortem said that the victim was subjected to sexual assault and cited asphyxia as the reason behind her death. As many as 54 witnesses have appeared before the court so far.

Pathankot District and Sessions Judge Tejwinder Singh is hearing the case after it was transferred on the orders of the Supreme Court on a plea filed by the victim’s family. On June 8, the court filed rape and murder against the seven accused.

According to the chargesheet filed in the case, the eight-year-old victim was abducted on January 10.She was kept sedated, and was sexually assaulted and raped repeatedly in a temple for days and killed on January 14. Her body was found near Kathua on January 17.