Agencies

Pathankot, July 31:

The supplementary charge sheet says the eight-year-old girl was forcefully administered sedatives, including cannabis. The girl was kidnapped on January 10 and was killed on January 14. It was on January 17 that her body was spotted in a forested area near Kathua.

Kathua rape case Representational image |Photo Credit: BCCL Jammu/Pathankot: The Jammu and Kashmir’s Crime Branch, in its supplementary charge sheet filed in the Pathankot sessions court on Monday, mentioned that the eight-year-old girl from Kathua could not resist sexual assault and murder through her captivity because she was overdosed with a cocktail of sedatives, making her “incapacitated”.The charge sheet was submitted before Pathankot District and Sessions Judge Tejwinder Singh. It not only gives a summary of the probe of the Jammu and Kashmir Police’s Crime Branch team but also details of the analyses of call records and bank accounts that helped it nab the eight accused in January 2018.

The Crime Branch team that submitted the supplementary charge sheet is led by Senior Superintendent of Police RK Jalla and special public prosecutors JK Chopra and Santokh Singh Basra, Harminder Singh and Bhopinder Singh.”We have submitted the supplementary charge sheet, giving details of call analyses, bank details and medical reports,” special public prosecutor JK Chopra told news agency PTI.Giving the spine-chilling details, the charge sheet says the girl was forcefully administered sedatives, including cannabis. The eight-year-old, belonging to a minority nomadic community, was kidnapped on January 10 and was killed on January 14. It was on January 17 that her body was spotted in a forested area near Kathua.

The charge sheet states that the probe established that the victim, during her captivity, was given sedatives by accused. It adds that she was given ‘mannar’ and Epitril 0.5 mg on an empty stomach.”She was forcefully administered five tablets of Clonazepam of 0.5 mg each on 11 January 2018, which is higher than the safe therapeutic dose. Subsequently, more tablets were given…The signs and symptoms of an overdose may include drowsiness, confusion, impaired coordination, slow reflexes, slowed or stopped breathing, coma (loss of consciousness) and death,” the medical expert’s report submitted along with the charge sheet said.The report further mentions that one hour to 1.5 hours after a person consumes Clonazepam, its peak concentration is achieved in the blood. The tablet’s absorption is complete “irrespective of (whether it is) administered with or without food”.

It adds that the tablets given to the girl could have forced her into a state of shock or coma. “… the expert opinion coupled with other evidence that has come on record prima-facie establishes that the victim child was continuously administered an overdose of Clonazepam (Epitril) rendering her incapacitated to resist rape and murder,” says the charge sheet.

Later, Sanji Ram, the custodian of a temple where the girl was allegedly kept in captivity, was arrested by the Crime Branch. Sanji Ram’s son Vishal and his nephew (a juvenile), two special police officers Surender Verma and Deepak Khajuria alias ‘Dipu’, and one Parvesh Kumar alias Mannu were also held. Head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Dutta have also been held in the case that sent shivers down the spine.