Fresh gory details in Asifa’s rape and murder has left her family shattered

Srinagar, Apr 11: The charge-sheet filed by police’s Crime Branch in the Asifa rape-and-murder case has brought to fore the horrendous details of how the 8-year-old girl from Kathua, Jammu, was drugged, raped, and murdered.
On January10, Asifa had gone missing from near her home. Her body was found in a nearby forest after a week.
The charge-sheet, filed in a Kathua court on Monday, revealed that Asifa was gang-raped multiple times by her abductors and was given sedatives to keep her unconscious before she was brutally killed.
The probe also revealed that she was kept starved for days together and suffocated and hit with a stone to death.
Most of the tribal families have left their village to take their cattle to the greener pastures in mountainous regions of Kashmir Valley.
But few members of Asifa’s family preferred to stay back at home given the investigations carried by the Crime Branch in the case.
Asifa’s uncle, Amjad Ali said that the revelation by the Crime Branch had shattered them further, considering the brutal treatment meted out to their child.
“We were initially unaware of these facts. Most among us knew that she was killed only. The rape was established by police after investigation. Even Asifa’s mother Rafia Bano is still in shock and unaware about the brutal treatment by the abductors,” he said.
Ali said that the probe by Crime Branch has come as a shock to them.
“We couldn’t even bear to accompany the Crime Branch officials to the court for submitting the charge-sheet. Asifa’s brutal murder and rape has been a tragedy for us,” he said.
Hashim, another member of Asifa’s family said that they have been threatened since last three months by the members of other community for raising a voice in her support.
“Our family members are so tense as justice has not been delivered yet. Majority of the people now left for grazing their animals. Those who live there fear for their lives,” he said.
Jabbar, a local teacher said they couldn’t do their work properly in the last three months.
“The voice against Gujjar community is intensifying in Kathua. Even today the entire area has observed shutdown. In general people are scared that they too might be killed or attacked,” he said.
Hindu Ekta Manch, a group formed after the arrest of the accused, has been demanding their release.
The lawyers on Monday protests and attempted to block the Crime Branch officials from filing the charge sheet.
Two Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) minister earlier addressed Hindu Ekta Manch rally, supporting their demand to hand over the case to the CBI.