Shimla, July 11: DGP Somesh Goyal said on Monday that the police had constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by the IG, Southern Range, to investigate the Kotkhai rape case. Meanwhile, 3,000 villagers from 26 gram panchayats marched to Kotkhai and demanded the immediate arrest in the gruesome rape and murder of 16-year-old girl in the Kotkhai area of Shimla district on July 4.
As the police failed to make any headway in the case even after six days on Monday, the villagers formed a joint action committee (JAC) after staging protests at Kotkhai, Chaila, Guma, Theog and other places on the Shimla-Theog-Kotkhai road.
“People want immediate arrest of the accused.The government should set up a fast-track trial court to give justice to the victim,” said Balak Ram Chauhan, convener, JAC.
“If the police fail to arrest the accused, the JAC will stage a protest at Gumma on July 18,” he said.
Villagers suspect some local was involved in the crime. “The victim was suspected to be strangulated to death after she was raped,” a forensic expert said.
“The police have recovered a soft drink and a liquor bottle from the spot. The finger prints on the body, bottles, including viscera, are being examined through the DNA analysis to ascertain the fact behind the crime,” he said.
Source Tribune India
