Kathua victim family in penury as their former lawyer Deepika Rajawat enjoys bungalow, fame

Kathua: The infamous Kathua rape and murder case, which shook the country in April, has taken a new twist after the “tukde-tukde” gang spearheaded the movement, defaming Hindus in the Kootah village, was exposed in the more recent past.

The collapse of the gang's natrrative had begun with the rape charge against Talib Hussian, an associate of JNU's AISA activist Shehla Rashid who had made a lot of hue and cry about the Kathua case.

Facing the wrath of social media users over crowd-funding, Rashid has already quit Twitter. Now, Advocate Deepika Singh Rajawat, awarded Woman of the Year title by the Indian Merchants Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s women’s wing, has been shown the door by the family of the Kathua victim.

Father of the Kathua victim, in an affidavit filed before the Pathankot sessions court, said Rajawat would no longer represent them in the case. Speaking to the media, he said, “Rajawat says she faces a threat to her life in Pathankot, which is why she does not go there for the hearings. She (Rajawat) attended only two hearings out of 110. So, we are filling the affidavit (that says she is no longer their lawyer)”.

MyNation, while investigating this case, learnt that Rajawat has earned Govt. Bungalow 28-C, which is located at the VVIP lane in Gandhi Nagar as her new residence despite not even attending the trial in the Pathankot court.

Meanwhile, the family of the victim is leading a life of abject penury. The Bakkarwal family of Younis, with around 300 goats and sheep, is struggling hard in the forests near Chichi Mata Temple in Samba district of Jammu and Kashmir. Younis is unaware of the awards and facilities Rajawat has received.

Speaking to MyNation, Younis said, “We didn’t get anything… We want to remove Rajawat from our case, We have given an application, I haven’t gone to court today, I am unaware of the status.”

Younis, who is still recovering from the shock of losing his 8-year-old girl, hardly speaks except answering questions in monosyllables.

Defence lawyer Ankur Sharma views the media and celebrity noise over the case as a “propaganda”. He said, “Justice to the little girl is possible only through a court of law not through TV studios. Deepika Rajawat has taken security, a government bungalow and awards to fight for the 'cause'. She was entitled to the privileges if she had attended the hearings. But now she has admitted that she has to be in Jammu as she has to bear the expenses, which is contrary to the nature of the kind of claims she used to make earlier that won her laurels.”

Sharma, while answering a question on the government accommodation for Rajawat, said, “Mehbooba Mufti and Islamist establishments of the state used her to engineer demographic changes in Jammu. The jihadi chief minister, in order to carry out this propaganda, chose traitors from the target population and provided them with such facilities. Mufti gave Rajawat a government bungalow to promote her Islamic hegemony and anti-Jammu agenda.”

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