I am creating this petition to denounce the shielding of the heinous perpetrators in the Kathua Gang rape case of an 8 year old girl named Asifa Bano in India, Jammu and Kashmir. This horrendous incident occurred in January of 2018 and the girl’s body was found dumped in an appalling state in a forest, with her eyes bulging out and her lips which had swollen up and turned purple/black! Her face bore clear torture marks and bite marks! The state of the poor girl’s body was ABSOLUTELY terrifying and the horror her innocent soul had endured could be seen easily on her dead body. According to the Indian, Penal Code, murder, rape, rape and injury which causes death or leaves women in a persistent vegetative state, rape of a child below 12 years, gang rape of a child below 12 years of age, certain repeat offences in the context of rape are all examples by which capital punishment becomes a legible punishment for the perpetrators and above instances are all applied to this case. Even if one argues that the implementation of capital punishment is only being used in rare cases, this case was undoubtedly the rarest of the rare and the most atrocious and crime India has ever seen in these years.  Additionally, the delay of Justice through the use of political mobilisation, removal of evidence of the crime occurring further denotes the for the implantation of the death penalty in this case. The severity of the case should definitely be considered and if Asifa’s case doesn’t fit the criterion of the capital punishment applied in the rarest of rare cases, what else exactly does?

 What makes this situation so much more atrocious and hideous is that this crime was subjected towards the girl due to hatred of Muslims, and hence comes under a form of Hate Crime. Towards whom, a minor girl, which is even more so despicable. Every step further into the investigation of the incident, presents the extreme repugnant nature of the crime. 

 The girl was chosen specifically because she belonged to a Muslim nomad and was part of the Bakwaral tribe. She was seen regularly by the main organiser of this atrocity around the area where she was kidnapped, a Hindu priest. These criminals were willing to harm an 8 year old child for their uncivilised and barbaric beliefs which is an extremely dangerous ideology in need of urgent attention. Similarly, are the people who are in minorities as well as poor assured no security? Should they start fearing for their lives? The Nirbhaya case sparked similar uproar from the crowd in India, and her justice took 7 years but at last, her perpetrators were given capital punishment with enough pressure. In this case, capital punishment again has become even more NECESSARY as this girl was a minor, she was deliberately chosen, not just to carry out an act of sexual assault, but to carry out a HATE CRIME and to in still fear among the poverty stricken Muslim community living in that area, to drive them away.

 The girl was taken to a Hindu temple, a place deemed to be holy and gang raped there, not for one day, but several days and heavily sedated. This is the part where the penal code of  ‘certain offences being repeated in the context of rape’ comes in. Apart from the Hindu priest, a police officer himself was involved in the case, therefore it is definitely not surprising why the police hadn’t done much to assure protection for the girl and her family. The corruption of the whole system in these areas is particularly is highlighted, which highly emphasises on the immense need for advancement and civilisation in these areas.

  In the end, Asifa was strangled and hit several times on the head with a rock until she had passed away! The police were informed of her absence from her house for days when she didn't return home, but they deemed the case as so unimportant that no proper search for her had been tried. Similarly, the temple was something that no one had ever imagined to search for, as no one would have thought an 8 year old girl would be held captive to be raped in a ‘holy’ place. And the police officer was constantly seen outside the temple, so obviously the naïve family members of the girl were almost positive that the temple was the most safest place, and yet they didn’t know that, it was the very place where their 8 year old daughter was being brutally raped. The terror inflicted upon a minor for several days who had no idea why she was being tortured and punished, makes capital punishment even more essential. A child who had nothing to do with politics and didn’t even know what religion she belonged to, or what religion was in the first place portrays the extent of inhumanity and barbarism of the perpetrators!

Vaginal swabs from the girl’s reports matched the accused, but they are still being protected. Another one of the monsters was invited from another part of the country to fulfil his gruesome lust, of RAPING a minor girl by the gang who had kidnapped her. Similarly, the disgust is further depicted when we learn that the ‘sex beast’ begged to rape the minor girl ‘ONE LAST TIME’ before discarding her. She was used like a piece of mutton, grabbed at, bitten at, pulled at, for straight out EVIL purposes and then discarded like a piece of rubbish as if she now had no other purpose!

On the outside, it seems as if the perpetrators have already been given punishment by being given a sentence of 25 years in jail with a fine of 1 lakh, but the truth is, inside, they are being provided with all sorts facilities which are state provided, further ensuring the care free lives of these criminals in the next 25 years. The perpetrators being so called ‘locked’  is actually even more so concerning, because as you know, India is sadly a country where fraud and deceit are common, and people are more horrified than ever that even after committing such a sickening crime, the perpetrators will undoubtedly be assured security! The evidence of politics playing a huge role in the protection of the criminals is the Unnao case where another 17 year old girl was again gang raped, with a former BJP member being included in the crime. He similarly had simply be given the so called ‘life sentence’. 

Asifa Bano's perpetrators will be ensured the right to die with ‘dignity’ whereas Asifa , an innocent minor girl was not! And why, because they belong to the BJP, a strong political party in India. This is the last nail in the coffin, as so many wrongdoers are already supported in India due to the money they possess as is shown by the huge delay in the Justice given to Nirbhaya. These criminals were part of a major political group, which leaves absolutely no doubt that as long as they are alive, whether that be jail or elsewhere, they will always be protected. What about the security of the young girl? And her family? Should all of these people be made to live in fear?

 The public hanging, or burning of these perpetrators will not only strengthen the platform of Justice in india, but also give assurance to families such as the young girl’s that they have the freedom to live which is a basic human right, and will not be terrorised by hate crimes such as these. Even if a country is not yet completely developed, doesn’t mean that we shall allow these kind of filthy acts to take place there as this will only give assurance to the criminal minds. Nobody knows what is going inside the Indian Jails, and there has been so much evidence to suggest the fraud nature by which the country is sadly currently functioning. This case has already taken up to nearly 4 years now and still no complete Justice is given. The only way to ensure change is to publicly award capital punishment to all those involved in the murder and gang rape of the young girl! Please do pay attention to this and sign this petition. Even consulting the now Prime Minister on India is not going to help as he himself is part of the BJP, and although he was addressed about this several times with various rape incidents, primarily Asifa Bano's case, although he assured complete punishment for the perpetrators, even passing the law on death penalty for child rapists under the age of 12, this has obviously still not been carried out. It has become necessary for the United Nations to take this situation into their own hands. If there was something Modi, was going to do, he would have done so a long time ago. Similarly, he would have first prevented the bloody massacre occurring in Kashmir. Sadly, it seems that he too possesses these radical thoughts regarding religious minorities and it has become even more so necessary for capital Punishment to be awarded to the perpetrators. Even if this hadn't been the case, the genuine lack of respect for women in this country portrays that the political influencers in this country probably don’t even consider rape as a crime. Please do pay attention to this crime, because this is not just about one country, this is about the safety of minorities as well as women in any country all around the world, especially children. And now, this has also largely become about humanity. 

There were a number of riots and public protests in India demanding Justice for the girl, but as the perpetrators were part of the BJP group, the support being provided to them is evident by the arrest and cruel beating of Talib Hussain who was a key witness in this case. He was falsely accused of domestic violence and rape as he had started the campaign demanding justice for Asifa Bano. He received death threats similar to a lot of other people attempting to help fight for Justice for the girl and was almost killed by the police with his skull crushed and his clothes drenched in blood. Deepika Singh Rajawat, who was the lawyer representing the girl and her family, was also given death threats as well as other threats warning to rape her, which made her ask for more security and eventually give up the case! Out of the 100 trials held for the girl, she was only present in 2. Thus, this case DISTINCTLY shows that rape/sexual violence wasn’t being committed due to ‘sexual lust or desire’ but as a weapon of war AGAINST FEMALES, which makes it even more crucial for this case to be given serious attention as to what the actual legible punishment for the perpetrators should be to prevent crimes such as these in the near future.