@the_news_21
Srinagar: Fourteen years on, the family of Tabinda Gani a 13-year-old girl who was raped and murdered by four men on July 20, 2007, is still waiting for justice.
Masood Ahmad, elder brother of the victim, told thenews21 that they are waiting for the day when the Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) High Court will sentence all the four men to death. He said that every year on July 20 there is some protest or gathering held in their home to demand justice, but this year due to the Covid-19 situation it was not held.
Tabinda, a Class 8 student and resident of north Kashmir’s Handwara, was raped and murdered when she was returning from her school in the afternoon. The police arrested all the four men and identified them as Sadiq Mir alias Saeda Choor, Azhar Mir alias Billa, both residents of Langate, Jahangir Ansari hailing from West Bengal, and Suresh Kumar hailing from Rajasthan.
A case (FIR number 152/2007) has been registered under Sections 302, 376 and 34 CrPC was registered and after investigation, police filed a chargesheet against all the four accused.
The Kupwara District Court gave its verdict on April 24, 2015, sentencing all the four convicts to rigorous imprisonment under various Sections of CrPC.
“Each of the convict is sentenced to rigorous imprisonment of seven years for offence punishable under Section 363/34 CrPC. The convicts are also sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for 10 years for the offence punishable under Sections 376(G)/34 CrPC. They are also sentenced to simple imprisonment of one month for offence punishable under Section 341/ 34 of CrPC. The sentences shall run concurrently,” the district court’s judgment read.
The culprits approached the High Court but a single bench upheld the judgment of the district court. The case is now pending with a double bench of the High Court.
Masood Ahmad said that they want the case to be taken up on priority basis so that justice can be done. He said after Eid the family will visit Srinagar High Court and plead before the Chief Justice for hearing the case.
Local sources in Handwara said that a group of people including family members of the victim congregated at the graveyard on Monday morning where they offered special prayers for Tabinda.
