In what seems like an unexpected development, The Print has reported that the father of the Kathua gang rape and murder victim has filed an application before the Pathankot trial Court stating that Deepika Rajawat won’t be representing them in the case anymore. This move seems like a surprise development as Deepika Rajawat had been earlier seen as spearheading the move for getting justice to the girl. However, according to The Print, the family of the victim has now expressed a lack of confidence in her. The Print stated that the application read, “keeping in view her apprehension and non- appearance in this case…I hereby withdraw my power of attorney issued to Deepika Singh Rajawat and now she is not my advocate.”
The Print reported that according to another lawyer, Mubeen Farooky, appearing for the Kathua victim’s family, the application was moved by the victim’s father as Deepika Rajawat had “no time” to appear in the case. In fact, in the present case she only appeared twice in last several months. According to The Print, Farooky also said, “More than 110 hearings in the case have taken place and more than 100 witnesses have been examined. But Rajawat has appeared in the case only twice. She has been claiming that she is receiving life threats because she has to appear in the case. It was decided that it is best to relieve her of this responsibility.”
However, this isn’t first such shocking development in this sensitive case. Earlier, certain serious allegations surfaced against Talib Hussain, an activist who was seen as being at the forefront in demanding justice for the victim. He was accused of domestic violence by his wife and then was arrested in connection with a rape case. The complainant in that case identified herself as a relative of Hussain and accused him of raping her in forests of Samba district where she had gone to graze cattle. During the recent India’s #Metoo movement, a JNU student also accused him of raping her.
Apart from this, according to a News18 report, the family of the victim had also disclosed that they had to sell off their livestock to pay expenses of travelling from Kargil to Pathankot, where the present case is being tried. News18 quoted the father of the victim as saying, “I had to attend court three to four times. Each time I had to travel, I sold some of my sheep and goat to pay for the expenses.” In an earlier report, ‘The Tribune’ had quoted the mother of the victim as stating, “The so-called social activists and politicians, who were in the forefront of the campaign seeking justice, brazenly exploited the brutality committed on my daughter and abandoned us after achieving petty personal goals.” This raises certain serious questions. The most important question is that when the funds were collected in the name of the Kathua rape and murder victim’s family then why they had to sell their livestock in order to travel up to Pathankot.
Meanwhile, Shehla Rashid, one of the activists who was instrumental in fundraising discredited ‘The Tribune’ report and claimed that she had met the biological parents of the victim after funds were transferred and they had no complaints. However, there has been no cogent proof and none of the activists have come up with a receipt or record of the transfer of funds till date. It seems that many of the activists along with Deepika Rajawat who were earlier seen as spearheading the demand for justice for the Kathua victim are no longer in picture even as the victim’s family is trying hard to get justice.