Main conspirator Sanji Ram was a government official (File)
Six men have been held guilty of gang-raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. While three main accused have been given life sentences, the other three have been sentenced for five years. The girl belonged to a nomadic tribe. She was kidnapped on January 10 last year and held captive at a village temple and was drugged, starved and repeatedly raped for days. The crime had triggered a nationwide outrage. Out of eight people charged for the horrific crime, one was acquitted and one claimed that he was a minor. Investigations suggested that the girl was raped and murdered in an effort to terrorise the nomads.
Sanji Ram
Sanji Ram, 60, a retired revenue officer, was the mastermind of the crime. He surrendered on March 20 last year. He incited the alleged minor, his nephew, to kidnap the girl. The nephew allegedly kept the girl in a village temple. He has been given the life sentence.
Parvesh Kumar
Parvesh Kumar, Sanji Ram's friend, helped the minor in kidnapping the girl. He has been given the life sentence.
Deepak Khajuria
Special police officer Deepak Khajuria was the one who allegedly begged to rape her one last time before she was killed. He has been given life sentence.
Surender Verma
Surender Verma, another special police officer, witnessed the crime and destroyed evidence. He gets five years in jail.
Sub-inspector Anand Dutta and head constable Tilak Raj
The two police officers are convicted for the destruction of evidence after accepting a bribe. They get five years in jail. The cops were also accused of washing the girl's clothes of blood stains to erase an important piece of evidence.
Sanji Ram's Nephew
The trial in his case is yet to begin because a petition on determining his age is yet to be heard by the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
Vishal Jangotra
Sanji Ram's son Vishal was a student in a Meerut college. He was allegedly called by his juvenile cousin to the temple to rape the victim. The prosecution couldn't produce sufficient evidence against him. He has been acquitted of all charges.