Kathua rape and murder case

In January 2018, an 8-year-old girl, Asifa Bano, from the nomadic Bakarwal Muslim community, went missing near the village of Rasana in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, India, after going to watch over grazing horses on 10 January. Her father filed a missing person complaint on 12 January, and her body was discovered on 17 January, roughly a kilometer from the village. A post-mortem found she had been drugged with a sedative, raped multiple times by different men, and killed by strangulation and a blow to the head with a heavy stone. Forensic evidence, including DNA from vaginal swabs and hair strands, was analyzed by the Delhi Forensic Science Laboratory and linked several of the accused to the crime scene, including a temple where she had reportedly been held for several days.

Investigation was transferred to the Crime Branch and Crime Headquarters of Jammu and Kashmir on 22 January 2018. Eight individuals were ultimately arrested, including four police officers, two of whom were accused of destroying evidence and accepting money to cover up the crime. Police identified Sanji Ram, a priest at the family temple where the crime occurred, as the individual who devised the plan; his son Vishal Jangotra and a juvenile nephew were also charged, along with police officers Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar, head constable Tilak Raj, and sub-inspector Arvind Dutta. The chargesheet stated the crime was intended both as personal revenge and to intimidate the Bakarwal community into leaving the area, a Muslim minority in the Hindu-majority district.

The case triggered significant communal tension. Right-wing Hindu groups, organized as the "Hindu Ekta Manch," staged protests defending the accused, and two ministers from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party attended a protest in their support. Lawyers affiliated with the group attempted to block the filing of charges on 9 April 2018. The victim's family reported being threatened when they attempted to bury her, and had to do so in a different village. The Delhi High Court later fined twelve media houses for disclosing the victim's identity in violation of child-protection law.

The trial began in Kathua on 16 April 2018 and was later moved by the Supreme Court of India to Pathankot on 7 May 2018, where it was held in-camera and fast-tracked. On 10 June 2019, six of the seven adult defendants were convicted. Sanji Ram, Deepak Khajuria, and Pravesh Kumar received life sentences; Tilak Raj, Anand Dutta, and Surender Verma received five-year sentences for destroying evidence. Vishal Jangotra was acquitted for lack of evidence. The juvenile nephew was tried separately in juvenile court. The case drew condemnation from the Prime Minister of India and the United Nations Secretary-General, and prompted public protests, including a candlelight vigil at India Gate in New Delhi.