SC asks Kathua rape case witnesses to move J&K HC with grievances

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court today asked three witnesses, who had alleged harassment at the hands of special investigation team (SIT) probing Kathua gang rape and murder case, to approach the Jammu and Kashmir High Court with their grievances.

The three witnesses, Sahil Sharma, Sachin Sharma and Neeraj Sharma, who were the classmates of one of the key accused in college, had alleged harassment by the SIT and sought an independent enquiry into it.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud refused to order a probe into the allegation of the witnesses that they were harassed during the process of recording of their statement before the state police.


The bench disposed of their petition giving them the liberty to approach the HC with their grievances.

The court was hearing the matter relating to the gangrape and murder of an eight-year old girl, belonging to a minority nomadic community, who had disappeared from near her home in a village close to Kathua in the Jammu region on January 10. Her body was found in the same area a week later.

Senior advocate Gopal Subramanium and advocate Shoeb Alam, appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir government, informed the court that the witnesses have already been re-examined and their statements have been re-recorded.

The apex court had allowed the three college students to be accompanied by their relatives during their further questioning by the Jammu and Kashmir Police.

The top court, which had rejected the plea for videography during the quizzing of the three witnesses by the Crime Branch, asked the police to carry out the probe in "fair manner".

The students, aged between 19 and 20 years, had alleged that they were harassed and coerced by the police and summoned to re-record their statements.