Uri rape and murder case cracked; all accused arrested

SRINAGAR: Police claimed on Tuesday that they had solved what appeared to be Jammu and Kashmir ’s most horrific crime in recent times — the gang rape , murder and mutilation of a nine-year-old girl from Boniyar, Uri. They said all five accused, including the child’s stepmother and halfbrother, had been arrested.Police said sustained interrogation and forensic and medical examinations led them to believe the girl had been gangraped, strangled, struck with an axe, had her eyes gouged out and acid poured over her because, allegedly, her stepmother was jealous that her husband lavished attention and love on his children from his second wife. Boniyar police received a complaint last week from a person who identified himself as X (TOI is withholding his name) of Uri, that his daughter was missing and that he feared she may have been abducted. An FIR was then filed and investigation started, police said, adding that the girl could not be traced despite their best efforts.The police found in the course of their investigation that the man had two wives — a local woman called A, and another from Jharkhand called B (both names withheld). The missing girl was B’s daughter. X also told the police that A would mostly work outdoors, grazing goats in nearby fields, while B mostly stayed at home to cook food, etc. “On September 2, the missing girl’s decomposing body was found in a forest about a kilometre from her home. Police teams, led by Uri SDPO Mehrajudin Raina and Boniyar SHO Iqbal Ahmad, accompanied forensic and medical teams to the spot and examined the crime scene,” police said.Examination of the crime scene led to suspicions of murder and an investigation was launched, the police said. “A special investigation team (SIT) headed by the Uri SDPO was set up. Sustained questioning of the stepmother and other suspects revealed the bone-chilling crime,” police said.Police alleged that the stepmother had for long been jealous of her husband’s other wife and her children as she believed he was more affectionate towards them.“During questioning, A revealed that her husband would mostly spend time with B and that his daughter (now deceased) was his dearest,” police claimed, adding that the acrimonious atmosphere, primarily caused by X taking a second wife, had been worsening. “A hence hatched a conspiracy to eliminate her stepdaughter. Armed with a sharp knife, she took her stepdaughter to a nearby jungle . While she was on the way to the forest, she signalled her son (halfbrother of the deceased), aged about 14 years, to be ready for the crime,” police claimed.The half-brother and two of his friends — Kaiser Ahmad (19), son of Sikander Mir, and another 14-year-old boy — later joined A in the forest. “One more accused, Naseer Ahmad Khan, alias Guddo, aged 28 years, son of Sher Zaman Khan of Lari, Trikanjan, also joined in the commission of the crime,” police claimed.