The eight people accused in Kathua rape case pleads not guilty and asked the judge for a narco test as a trial into the case , which has become the epicenter of the outrage across the country.

Seven of them were presented before the District and Sessions Judge Sanjay Gupta , where Ankush Sharma , the lawyer of the alleged criminals , raised the issue of providing accused copies of the ” challan” or the charge sheet. The judge asked the state crime branch to give them copies and fixed April 28 as the next date of hearing.The eighth accused is a juvenile who moved a bail application before the Chief Judicial Magistrate. The matter was posted for 26 April.

“The rape was a strategy “

According to the charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch , the persecution, rape and killing of the girl was a planned strategy to remove the Bakarwals tribe , which is a nomadic community , now staying in Kathua. A separate charge sheet was filed for the juvenile.

Immediately after the brief hearing in the sessions court, the accused were shifted back to the jail under tight security. As the trial began inside the court ,the main conspirator Sanji Ram’s daughter Madhu Sharma protested outside , demanding a CBI probe. There was heavy Police presence at the Kathua court complex following the commotions on the April 9th when members of the local bar association did not allow the Crime Branch to submit the charge sheet in the case.

Supreme Court tells J&K government to provide security to the victim’s family and lawyer

The heavy situations created for the victim’s family are slumped by the Supreme Court as the J&K government is ordered to provide security to the victim’s family. The victim’s father praised the Police investigators in the Supreme Court on Monday for doing a ” thorough ” job.

Senior advocate Indira Jaising, for the father, said the atmosphere was so “polarised” that a fair trial for the victim would be impossible.

Ms. Jaising clarified that the family only wanted the trial to be conducted in Chandigarh, and the Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch team to continue its investigation into the case.

“We are pleased to see the State support us. In my career I have never seen a State so supportive. The police have done a good job. All accused have been forensically and physically identified. This is the kind of investigation that they want to derail,” she said adding that the family wanted fair trial and not compensation.