INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The only woman police officer in the team that investigated the Kathua child rape was disparaged by the lawyer defending the accused, who
said: "She is a girl, how intelligent can she beFor Deputy Superintendent of Police Shwetambari Sharma, the comment is reflective of the
difficulties she faced while investigating the men who kidnapped an eight-year-old girl in January, kept her sedated and without food while
raping her over and over for a week, and finally killed her.Defence lawyer Ankur Sharma, who made the misogynistic comments, is defending
five of the accused."It hurts when you are targeted and your intelligence is doubted just because you are a woman
What should I comment on such a chauvinist remark, the whole nation is there to comment on it," Shwetambari Sharma told reporters yesterday,
reacting to the lawyer's outrageous comment.Ms Sharma, the only woman in the SIT (Special Investigation Team) in the case, said the team
faced lots of difficulties while collecting evidence, especially because a pro-Hindu group and lawyers were campaigning in support of the
accused.All the arrested men are Hindu and the child who was raped and killed belonged to the nomadic Muslim Bakherwal tribe."An agitation
was going on and going among the provocative persons to collect the evidence and take statements was not easy," she said.Ms Sharma said
initially she felt "disturbed" with the case but now she was fine.She hoped that the judiciary would provide justice to the little girl who
suffered unimaginable horrors in her last days."Our judiciary is capable enough to bring justice, don't doubt it," said the police
officer.The trial against the eight accused men has begun.Two First Information Reports (FIRs) have been filed in the case - one against the
eight accused and the other against a group of lawyers that allegedly tried to stop the police from filing a charge-sheet against the
accused.Details of the crime in the charge-sheet left the nation struggling with shock, anger and grief
One of the accused, a police officer, begged to rape the girl one last time before she was strangled and stoned to death.(With inputs from
