SC transfers Kathua gangrape and murder case to Pathankot court in Punjab

Photo: Representational/PTI (File)

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday transferred the trial in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir to Pathankot in Punjab. The apex court said the trial would be in accordance with provisions of Ranbir Penal Code, applicable in Jammu and Kashmir. It also ordered that the trial in the case should be held in-camera. Directing the continuation of security to the family members of the victim, family friends and lawyer representing them, the top court said that trial in the case must be fair to accused as well as the victim's family. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra ordered that the trial be fast-tracked and conducted on a day-to-day basis to avoid any delay. The apex court had earlier given a stern warning and said it would transfer the Kathua gangrape-and-murder case from the local court in the "slightest possibility" of lack of fair trial, saying the "real concern" was to hold proper prosecution.