Kathua rape-murder case verdict: Mastermind Sanji Ram, 2 others get life sentence, 5-year jail term for 3 cops

The special court in Pathankot on Monday sentenced three men including a temple caretaker to life imprisonment for the gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old nomadic girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir shortly after convicting them along with three others for the ghastly crime that shook the nation 17 months ago.

Sanji Ram, the mastermind and caretaker of the 'devasthanam' (temple) where the crime took place in January last year, Deepak Khajuria, a Special Police Officer, and Parvesh Kumar, a civilian--the three main accused--were spared death penalty, a punishment sought by the prosecution during the year-long in-camera trial in the Pathankot court of judge Tejwinder Singh.