Police file charge sheet in Rajasthan's Bhilwara rape-murder case, say minor was burnt alive

Nearly a month after the body parts of a minor who was gang-raped were found inside a coal furnace in Rajasthan's Bhilwara, police filed a charge sheet in the court saying the girl was alive when she was thrown into the furnace. 

The 400-page charge sheet presented before the court on Saturday names nine of the 11 accused. A separate charge sheet would be filed against two minors allegedly involved in the crime.

The police have added Section 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to the charges against the accused after the forensic examination suggested that the girl was burnt alive.

"Forensic examination report has suggested that the girl was alive before being burnt in the furnace. She could be unconscious but she was alive. So, IPC section 326 was added in the FIR," case investigating officer and Kotari DSP Shyam Sunder Bishnoi said. 

"The charge sheet was presented before the court on Saturday and the next hearing is scheduled on September 8," Bishnoi said.

The 14-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and thrown in a coal furnace on August 3 at Kotari in Bhilwara, now part of the newly formed Shahpura district.

The DSP said while some charred body parts of the victim girl were recovered from the furnace, others were found scattered at various places, which were preserved for forensic examination.