New Delhi, July 9: The Supreme Court has ordered the transfer of the accused in the Kathua Murder and Rape case. The apex court has also directed the Jammu & Kashmir administration to provide security to the special public prosecutor in the case. The Kathua rape accused will be moved to Gurdaspur jail in Punjab.

News agency ANI tweeted about the Supreme Court directive as well. The tweet read that "Kathua rape and murder case: Supreme Court directs J&K administration to provide security to the Special Public Prosecutor in the case." Check out the tweet:

Earlier, the Supreme Court, in May, had transferred the hearing of the case. The top court had also directed the Pathankot district court to conduct fast-track hearings, without any adjournments.

The counsel on behalf of victim's parents, Indira Jaising, had urged the bench to shift the case out of Jammu, as the Jammu Bar Association has openly sided with the prime accused held in the case.

Kathua Gang Rape Murder Case:

An eight-year-old girl was kidnapped from Rasana village, Jammu on January 10. According to investigations, she was drugged and held captive for a week before being murdered. The eight-year-old was gangraped thrice inside the temple basement, after the mastermind had “performed rituals" reports Indian Express. She was confined and forcefully fed sedatives, raped repeatedly then strangled and hit on the head twice with a stone — “in order to make sure” she was dead. But not before another accused, a police personnel, asked the others to “wait because he wanted to rape” her one last time. When the case came to public knowledge, it sparked huge outrage in the country and calls for justice for the girl.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 09, 2018 05:15 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).