3 get life in prison for Kathua rape and murder, 5-year terms for 3 others

A court in Pathankot, Jammu, on Monday sentenced three men to life imprisonment for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Kashmir state last year, said TV news channels.

Three other men were given five-year jail terms, reported NDTV.

The girl, from a nomadic Muslim community that roams the forests of Kashmir, was drugged, held captive in a temple and sexually assaulted for a week before being strangled and battered to death with a stone in January 2018.

The abduction, rape and killing of the child was part of a plan to remove the minority nomadic community from the area, the 15-page charge sheet said.

Among those accused were a Hindu priest and police officers, fanning communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims in the area.