NCW chairperson demands capital punishment for Kathua case convicts

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma Monday demanded capital punishment for the six convicts in the sensational Kathua gang rape-murder case, saying the Jammu and Kashmir government should appeal in higher court.

A court in Pathankot on Monday sentenced to life imprisonment the three main accused in the gang rape and murder of an 8-year-old nomadic girl in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua, while awarding five years in jail to three others for destruction of evidence.

Sharma welcomed the conviction, but said she was expecting capital punishment for the culprits.

"The Jammu and Kashmir government must go for appeal in higher court," she said.

The girl was kidnapped on January 10 last year and gang raped 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 countrywide outcry and the trial was held on day-to-day basis at the district and sessions court in Pathankot.