Srinagar: The Jammu & Kashmir High Court on Wednesday asked the state DGP and Chief Secretary to appear in person in court on May 12 in connection with the sex racket which was unearthed a few days ago.
The order came after the HC took sou moto cognisance of media reports that several former ministers, state bureaucrats and police officers are allegedly involved in the scandal.
Meanwhile, protests over the scandal involving minor girls are spreading across the state. A group of lawyers took to the streets on Wednesday, saying that a division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court should handle the case.
The lawyers also raised anti-police and anti-government slogans
"It takes them 10 days to get a judge for the case and he's not even here in Srinagar," says an office-bearer of JK Bar Association, Mian Qayoom.
The Valley has been witnessing a wave of protests ever since a CD that showed a minor girl being forcibly filmed nude was found, following which it was revealed that the scandal involved almost 43 girls, most of them minors.
Sources told CNN-IBN that a few Congress MLAs have written to UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi, asking her to take action against any party member found involved in the scandal.
But for now, the state government wants the issue to be handled carefully.
"Just a few people cannot discredit all women of the state," Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad says.
However, Congress' ally PDP is upset with the way things are being handled. The party feels that the names of the victims should have been kept under wraps until the guilty were exposed.
"The girls should have been protected, and not the politicians, until investigations are completed," Says PDP President, Mehbooba Mufti.
Meanwhile, Dukhtaran-e-Millat (Daughters of Faith) chief Asiya Andrabi on Wednesday demanded a high-level judicial probe into the sex scandal, claiming that the people of Kashmir valley have no faith in the CBI and the police.
"The case should be handed over to a full division bench of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court. We have no faith in the CBI and the police. The CBI has no access to the Kashmiri women," she told a press conference.
Andrabi broke down several times during her one-hour press conference in which she alleged that the CBI would indulge in delaying tactics besides manipulating and tampering with the evidence.
"The seriousness and gravity of the case should be understood. Every minute is vital. The people are delaying the investigations to tamper with the evidence," she said.
Andrabi added that once the full bench takes up the case, it should appoint a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the matter.
"Our daughters are being sexploited, used in pornographic films and CDs. There is a clear attempt to defame the Kashmiri women who are faced with growing insecurity. Our chastity and honour is at stake," she said as tears rolled down her cheeks.
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