The Man Who Spearheaded Stir To Seek Justice For Kathua Victim Held On Rape Charges

Talib Hussain, who lead the demonstrations seeking justice in the alleged rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district, has been arrested by the Jammu and Kashmir police on the charge of raping a married woman in the Majalta forest area in Udhampur, a report in The Tribune said.

“He (Talib) was arrested from the Tral area of Pulwama district in south Kashmir on Tuesday and brought to Samba following a written complaint of a married woman who has accused him of raping her in a jungle about one and a half months ago,” the daily quoted an unnamed police officer as saying.

The married woman, in her complaint, alleged that Talib, armed with a knife, intercepted her when she had gone to the forest for grazing cattle. The complaint also adds that she remained silent because Hussain had threatened to kill her and that she informed her husband about the rape yesterday.

Last month, Hussain’s wife Nusrat Begum had filed a First Information Report against him alleging that she was subjected to physical torture by him for dowry. Following his wife’s complaint, Hussain was booked under various provisions of the Ranbir Penal Code, including domestic violence, dowry demand, threatening to divorce his wife and making an attempt to murder her.

Hussain was seen in a popular picture with Deepika Singh Rajawat, lawyer of the Kathua victim’s family. The picture went viral on social media. He also appeared in a National Herald interview along with Rajawat on the Kathua issue.