STATE TIMES NEWS
Chandigarh: The bail application of main accused Sanji Ram, sentenced to undergo a life imprisonment for the rape and murder of an eight-year-old nomad girl in Kathua, has been posted for hearing on February 24 by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The application came up for hearing on Thursday before a division bench of justices Tejinder Singh Dhindsa and Lalit Batra through video conferencing during which the counsel for Jammu and Kashmir R S Cheema requested for a new date that was granted.
Ram had moved an application under section 389 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) before the high court. Under this provision, an accused can approach the court for suspension of his sentence pending an appeal.
Ram was given a life term till his last breath by a sessions court of Pathakot that described it as a “devilish and monstrous crime”.
“There are various lacunas in the investigations conducted by the prosecution agency as well as in the statements recorded during trial court,” the petition of Ram claimed while seeking relief.
Ram, the caretaker of the ‘devasthanam’ (temple) where the crime took place in January 2018, Deepak Khajuria, a Special Police Officer, and Parvesh Kumar, a civilian — the three main accused — were given life term.
Three other policemen were sentenced to five-year imprisonment for cover up and destruction of evidence while Ram’s son Vishal was acquitted.