In connection with the Tabinda Gani rape and murder case, the court on Thursday reserved its judgement over the quantum of punishment to the accused till Friday.According to the KNS correspondent, some new arguments were raised today in the court due to which Sessions Judge Kupwara Muhammad Ibrahim Wani reserved the decision second time.
In 2007, Tabinda Gani, 13, was raped and murdered in north Kashmir’s Kupwara district. The victim's family demands nothing less than capital punishment for the convicts – Sadiq Mir, Azhar Ahmad Mir, both residents of Langate- and two non-locals - Mochi Jahangir Ansari of West Bengal and Suresh Kumar of Rajasthan.Principal District and Sessions Judge Kupwara, Muhammad Ibrahim Wani, had held all the four guilty of gang rape and cold blooded murder of 13-year-old Tabinda Gani Shah of Batpora Langate.
Demanding gallows for the four, Tabinda’s father Abdul Gani Shah, said, “Only a strong punishment will give justice to my daughter. We will only be satisfied when they will be sentenced to death. They have committed a horrible crime and behaved like beasts. They should be hanged.”On April 18, the court had held all the four accused guilty of offences of murder (302 RPC), gang rape (376), kidnapping with intention to kill (364 RPC) and crime done with common intention (34 RPC).Senior Public Prosecutor GM Shah says that he has prayed for death sentence to those involved in brutal murder of the defenceless minor girl.“This is the rarest of rare crime and accused deserve nothing less than death sentence,” he said.
Tabinda, a class 8th student of Uqab English medium school Langate, was found dead in an orchard in Langate area on July 20, 2007. Medical reports confirmed that the abductors before slitting her throat had raped her.The incident evoked massive protests in Kashmir valley. The protests had even shaken the then Ghulam Nabi Azad-led government which announced Rs one lakh reward for those who would help authorities in identifying the culprits.