The family of the Kathua rape victim never received the funds which were collected in their name, if reports are to be believed. The reports have attributed this allegation to an audio tape where two people are supposedly heard discussing how “huge funds” were collected in the rape victim’s name, which never made its way to the family. The individuals in the clip are also reportedly heard suggesting that a dispute has arisen between the people who helped raised the said funds.
In light of the clip’s emergence, the Jammu and Kashmir government has forwarded it to investigative agencies for a probe. J&K’s Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh acknowledged hearing the audio clip following which he decided to forward it.
Besides this, Singh also touched on the point of a long-standing demand for a CBI probe into the rape case, by claiming that the government will oblige in this regard if the court orders so.
This controversy over Kathua funds comes a few days after a Zee News report alleged that the victim’s lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat had spent days in JNU “collecting vast sums of money” for legal representation in the case.
The allegation in question was aired by a certain Vakar Bhatti on a Zee News show. Bhatti supposedly had also speculated whether the large sums of money collected in the victim’s name had actually reached her family.
Following this, Rajawat had come out to slam what she called a “false statement” made by Bhatti. She claimed that she had never set foot in JNU and alleged that it was a calculated tactic by Bhatti to malign her.
With regards to the legal expenses, she claimed that her entire legal team including senior counsel, advocate-on-record and lawyers collective in Delhi were providing pro bono legal services.