Kathua Rape And Murder Case: Punjab & Haryana High Court Rejects Parole Plea Of Key Conspirator Sanji Ram [Read Order]

The Bench of Justice S. Muralidhar and Justice Avneesh Jhingan was hearing the plea of Sanji Ram, who prayed for parole for a period of 8 weeks in order to attend the marriage of his son.

The Bench took into account the report of the Senior Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, Jammu dated 31st October, 2020, which was placed on record.

It was stated therein, that the relatives of the victim have returned from the higher reaches to village Rasana, where the marriage is scheduled to take place.

It was further stated that if the Petitioner is granted the benefit of parole to attend the marriage of his son, there is every apprehension of there being community clashes and protests in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir.

Consequently, the Court opined,

"Given the genuine apprehension expressed as regards the possible law and order consequences if the Petitioner's prayer for parole is granted, the Court is not inclined to accept such prayer at this stage."

The petition was accordingly dismissed.

It may be noted that the District and Sessions Judge Pathankot Tejwinder Singh had pronounced sentence in the ghastly crime relating to gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old in Kathua, Jammu in January 2018.

The main accused in the case Sanji Ram, his friend Parvesh Kumar and a special police officer Deepak Khajuria were sentenced to life imprisonment for offences under Sections 302 (murder) of the Ranbir Penal Code.

They have also been separately sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for the offence of gang rape under Section 376D of the Code.

According to the charge sheet, the eight-year-old girl, who was kidnapped on January 10 in the year 2018, was allegedly raped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district after having been kept sedated for four days before she was bludgeoned to death.

It may be noted that taking suo moto cognizance of the obstruction by lawyers and the special status enjoyed by accused in the State, the Supreme Court had ordered the transfer of the trial of the case to Pathankot in the neighbouring state of Punjab.