Kathua rape case: The J&K Court convicted six of seven who were held guilty for 8-year-old's rape-murder last year

• All 7 who were found guilty in the murder and rape of an eight year old girl in Katha have been convicted. The court has acquited one of the accused in the case.
• The court will announce the quantam of sentence in the case against the six convicted at 2 pm today.

The J&K Court has convicted the main accused, Sanji Ram, for the murder and rape of 8-year old girl last year in Kathua district in Jammu and Kashmir.

The court will announce the quantam of sentence in the case against the six convicted at 2 pm today.

The rest six accused in the Kathua rape case are convicted under three sections including Ranbir Penal Codes' Sections 201 (pertaining to the disappearance of evidence) and 120-B (pertaining to criminal conspiracy). One of the eight accused has been acquitted by the court.

The horrific rape and murder case that shook India
In January 2018, the brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir sent shivers across the nation, raising questions on the safety of women in India.

According to the J&K police, the girl was forced to take sleeping pills, dragged and locked inside a nearby temple. She was repeatedly raped for the next three days, said the Jammu and Kashmir police.

The girl was strangled to death as one of the accused tried to rape her yet again. Her bloodied corpse was found in the forest.

The Jammu and Kashmir police arrested eight men in connection with the crime. Reports of two police officers accepting bribes for covering up the crime also surfaced. One of the arrested suspects is juvenile.

India toughned its juvenile law for serious crime including rape after the horrific December 2016 Delhi gangrape. The bill allows juveniles between 16 and 18 years of age to be treated as adults for serious crimes like rape or murder.

The police officials said that they have DNA tests and physical evidence of the defendants connected with Asifa’s case. The officials also said that they interviewed over 130 witnesses who “unequivocally corroborated the facts that emerged’’.