Kathua, November 15: The family of the eight-year-old girl from Kathua who was allegedly gangraped and murdered in January this year sacked Advocate Deepika Singh Rajawat as their attorney. According to reports, the family of the victim expressed lack of confidence in Rajawat. The victim’s father filed an application before the trial court in Pathankot on Wednesday. In the application, the father said that Rajawat would not be representing them in the case anymore. Kathua Rape Case: Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch Presses Perjury Charges Against Witness

Another lawyer Mubeen Farooky who is representing the victim’s family in the court claimed that the family decided to remove Rajawat as she had no time to appear in the case as she had appeared only twice in the last several months. Farooky told ThePrint, “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.” He also said that Rajawat claimed that she was receiving death threats for representing the girl’s family. However, Rajawat refuted the allegations.

The eight-year-old girl, belonging to a nomadic tribe, was allegedly kidnapped on January 10 and her body was found on January 17. It is alleged that she was gang-raped and later murdered. The crime branch arrested eight people, including a juvenile in the case. The charge sheet was filed against Sanji Ram and his juvenile nephew, his son Vishal, special police officers Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma and friend Parvesh Kumar alias Mannu. The charge sheet also names head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Dutta.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 15, 2018 10:55 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).