Himachal Kotkhai gangrape-murder case: High Court asks CBI to file affidavit

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday asked the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file an affidavit in the Kotkhai gang-rape and murder of a minor schoolgirl.

Next date of hearing in the case is scheduled on January 10.

Last week, the CBI announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh to anyone who provides "credible information”.

The 16-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped and killed in Kotkhai area of Shimla district while she was returning home from school on July 2, 2017.

The accused had offered a lift to the victim and then took turns to brutally rape and murder her. 

The body was found in a forest two days later. Police have arrested all six people involved in the crime.

The accused were farm labourers, aged between 19 and 42 years, and settled in Kotkhai area. The police described the crime as a “blind rape-murder case”.

In the absence of witness and CCTV footage of the crime scene, the police had to rely on other sources to nab the culprits. However, they still have to produce concrete evidence in court to prosecute them.

IG Zahur H. Zaidi, who is heading the SIT team probing the case, had said that most of the evidence at the crime scene was washed away by rains. The accused, who were drunk at the time of the crime, were arrested on the basis of circumstantial and confessional evidence.