Asifa – an eight year old Muslim girl was brutally raped for several days and murdered by few men in ‘devsthan’ (temple) after being drugged.  The Asifa case shook the nation and every individual from inside. Every social media platform, news channel, newspaper and other media sources are flooded with the news of Asifa case. Though this sad incident happened in the January 2018, the media brought this up and the country is full of rage.

Asifa was busy grazing her horses when a 19 year old boy called her for help and took her into the forest. That man took her forcefully into the village temple and drugged her for three days. She was brutally raped by him and his two colleagues. After that, the murderer hit Asifa on her head twice with a rock. The most saddening part is that one of the rapists stopped the murderer to kill Asifa because he wanted to rape her one last time. On 17th January, Mohammad Pujwala (Asifa’s father) was sitting when his neighbor told him that he found her body in the forest.

The first accused (19 year old teen) claimed himself to be underage. But the hair found on the body was examined and the DNA tests revealed that he was 19 years old. The nineteen year old dropout confessed the crime and revealed his uncle’s name who was also involved in this.
Eventually, the investigations were done by the Police and they found out that a former government official Sanji Ram, uncle of the first accused planned this disheartening incident. He was prepared to bribe the officials too. The third accused Deepak Khajuria wanted to rape Asifa one more time before killing her. According to the charge sheet, he is a special police officer. Another special police officer, Surinder Kumar was also involved in Asifa’s rape and murder. A friend of the teen, Parvesh Kumar is also arrested for raping the child many times. Other accused are the police officers who tried to suppress the incident and hide it. They washed the clothes on the body and didn’t collect the essential evidence in order to help the accused men.
After this case went viral on media, proceedings became faster. The rapists pleaded for mercy and they said that they are ready for narco test. The next court hearing is scheduled on 28th April. The lawyer of the Kathua Rape Case, Deepika Singh Rajawat told that her life is under threat as she is undertaking this case.

The cause of this unfortunate and spine shivering incident was the difference and clashes regarding land amongst two religious groups in Kathua, Kashmir. According to the media reports, Asifa’s family used to live in a locality with a Hindu majority and they wanted to drive them out of Kathua’s Rassana area.

The Prime Minister, Narendra Modi is facing constant criticism for his silence towards this case. Various parties and organizations are doing nationwide protests against the government and demanding justice for Asifa. Jammu and Kashmir citizens are protesting against the government. The local lawyers demanded that the two BJP leaders who participated in a rally which supported the accused men should also be arrested.

“Raped for days, tortured and finally murdered” - this was the fate of an innocent eight year old. Let us wait for the court proceedings and watch what action will the court take on the accused. Will Asifa get justice? Let us hope for the best.