The family of one of the key accused in the Kathua rape-murder case, Vishal Jangotra, who was called in from Meerut to “satisfy his lust”, have now come out saying the eight-year-old was their “daughter” and that Vishal was in Meerut on the day of the crime. Vishal is the son of the main accused, Sanji Ram, who had allegedly plotted the entire act well in advance and hid the girl inside the temple where several men took turns to rape her.

In an interview with CNN-News18, the two women from Vishal and Ram’s family said that they have sufficient evidence to prove that Vishal was in Meerut on January 12 and it would have been impossible for him to reach Kathua from Meerut in such a short notice.

The police chargesheet has stated that the juvenile accused who had abducted and sedated the girl before raping her had called his friend Vishal in Meerut asking him if he would also like to rape the little girl and "satisfy his lust". Vishal had then allegedly reached Kathua the next morning on January 12 to violate the unconscious girl at the 'Devsthan' his father run.

“We have attendance record to show that Vishal was in Meerut on January 12. There's footage and some marksheet to prove that. We would also request the media to consider this — was Vishal sitting ready that he immediately left from Meerut and reached Kathua in 12 hours’ time,” said Vishal’s sister Madhu.

Asked why they were fasting unto death, the two women said, “We want justice for our daughter and for that we need a CBI probe in the matter.”

The family that is sitting on an indefinite fast added that if the Modi government doesn’t order a CBI probe in the Kathua rape case within eight days, “there will be no government here, only Jungle Raj”.

“She is my daughter because an eight-year-old can't have a religion. She is an avatar of Vaishno Devi. The Mehbooba Mufti government is playing politics. We have always lived peacefully with the Muslims. There has never been a divide. The girl is our daughter too so where is the question of a Hindu Muslim divide in this?

The eight-year-old girl was held captive, starved, sedated and repeatedly raped inside a ‘devisthan’ in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kathua district before being murdered and dumped in a nearby forest. She was killed on January 17 after she went missing on January 10.

This was three months ago and since then several protests for and against the accused have rocked the state. After the gory details of the act came to the fore with the Jammu and Kashmir’s police’s chargesheet filed on Monday, the nation has been swept by widespread outrage across quarters.

When asked about the serious charges that have been framed in the chargesheet against Ram and Vishal, they said, “The chargesheet was framed after the men were tortured and forced to confess. The juvenile accused told me that their nails were being ripped off and fingers twisted to extract confession.”

The family has further alleged that the juvenile was threatened by the police to name his uncle Sanji Ram in the case or else Ram would be killed, fearing which he took Ram’s name.

Asked about the narrative of the accused’s family and supporters protesting against the Crime Branch for roping in officers from Kashmir, they again asked, “Why bring special officers from Kashmir? Was our Jammu cadre not enough? Why was the report sent to Srinagar? Aren't there any hospitals in Jammu?”

She added, “The Crime Branch doesn’t want to hear us when we say that Vishal was in Meerut on January 12. We want a CBI probe in this matter.”