Pathankot, June 10: District and Sessions Court judge Tejwinder Singh on Monday announced the quantum of punishment to the six convicts in Kathua rape and murder case. While three among them have been awarded life imprisonment, three others have been slapped with a five-year jail term.

The three awarded with life-imprisonment terms are Sanji Ram, the caretaker of the temple where the crime took place, Special Police Officer Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar, a civilian. Accused Vishal by Acquitted by Pathankot Court

The trio were booked under Ranbir Penal Code sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy, murder, gangrape and destruction of evidence, the lawyers said.

Those who have been sentenced to five-year imprisonment are  Sub Inspector Anand Dutta, Head Constable Tilak Raj and Special Police Officer Surendra Verma. They were convicted of destroying evidence.

According to the chargesheet filed by the SIT, the victim - an 8-year-old girl from the nomadic Bakarwal community - was kidnapped on January 10 last year and gangraped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua after having been kept sedated for four days. She was later bludgeoned to death.

The incident led to a country-wide outcry and the trial was held on day-to-day basis at the district and sessions court in Pathankot.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jun 10, 2019 04:59 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).