Crime Branch not following SC order while questioning Kathua witnesses: BJP

Jammu: The BJP today accused the Jammu and Kashmir Police of not complying with the Supreme Court order, which allowed the family of three witnesses in the Kathua rape-murder case to accompany them for questioning.
“The Crime Branch of J&K Police must follow the order of the Supreme Court in letter and spirit, and ensure that the interrogation is done within the visible distance of the family members so that any possibility of coercion and harassment as alleged by the three students, is ruled out,” BJP state spokesperson Anil Gupta said in a press release.
“After the Crime Branch resumed the interrogation in the case, it failed to comply with the Supreme Court order and did not allow the relatives to accompany the three boys,” he said.
The BJP leader said three friends of an accused in the Kathua case, namely Sahil Sharma, Sachin Sharma and Neeraj Sharma had filed a petition in the apex court, alleging that they were being harassed by the state police.
The court, in a recent order, had allowed a relative of each of the three witnesses to accompany them on a condition that such relatives shall not enter the investigation room and witness the interrogation from a reasonably visible distance.
We hope and trust that the state shall carry the investigation in the most fair manner without pressurising the witnesses,” observed the three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Deepak Misra.
Gupta said the matter was raised with J&K DGP S P Vaid, who immediately ordered the Crime Branch to adhere to the Supreme Court order.
An 8-year-old girl from a minority nomadic community had disappeared from near her home in a village near Kathua in the Jammu region on January 10. Her body was found in the same area a week later. According to police she was abducted and gang-raped in a temple. Agencies