The family members of the eight-year-old girl who was gang-raped and murdered in a village in Jammu’s Kathua district three years ago say they are shocked after a court suspended the sentence and granted bail to a police sub-inspector convicted for destroying evidence in the 2018 case.The Punjab and Haryana High Court last week granted bail to Anand Dutta, one of the six people found guilty of taking bribes from Sanji Ram, the prime accused, to sabotage the case. In June 2019, a court in Punjab’s Pathankot had sentenced Dutta to imprisonment for five years.ALSO READ | Unnao, Hathras, Kathua: 10 Rape Cases that Shocked India in the Last 10 Years“This is total injustice. His jail sentence was for five years and he has come out in less than three years. My wife and I are disappointed. It seems tragedy has re-visited us. We feel sad for our child,” the girl’s father told News 18 from Kathua. “We fear we will be targeted now. Their (convicts) supporters will again start to harass our community,” he said.A relative expressed similar fears. “There are only six to seven Bakarwal families in the village. While we live peacefully in our neighborhood, some elements from other villages always look to create disturbances,” he said. “Some villages have boycotted us by not selling patte (leaves) to us as fodder for cattle. We manage it somehow; otherwise, our cattle will die for want of food.”The relative said his community was sad to hear about the convict walking free without completing his punishment term.The girl, who was kidnapped on January 10, 2018, was allegedly raped in captivity in a small village temple in the district after being kept sedated for four days before she was bludgeoned to death. Following public outcry, the-then Mehbooba Mufti government ordered a probe into the incident. A special investigation team of Jammu and Kashmir Crime Branch was constituted to investigate the case, which got highly politicised.Sanji Ram, the caretaker of the temple where the crime took place, special police officer Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar, a civilian, were convicted under Ranbir Penal Code sections pertaining to criminal conspiracy, murder, gangrape and destruction of evidence. Two police officers— sub-inspector Anand Dutta and head constable Tilak Raj— and special police officer Surender Verma were convicted for destruction of evidence. “The perpetrators of this crime have acted in such a manner as if there is a ‘law of jungle’ prevalent in the society,” the judge had said in the verdict.Dutta’s counsel had challenged the order in the High Court and asked for suspension of the sentence during the pendency of his appeal. Last Monday, a bench of Justices Tejinder Singh Dhindsa and Vinod S Bhardwaj suspended Dutta’s sentence for the rest of his jail term and granted him bail.The three police officers had been convicted under section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), section 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) and section 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Ranbir Penal Code (now IPC).According to reports, in his plea challenging the sentence, Dutta had contended that he had been falsely implicated in the case.His lawyer Bipan Ghai had argued that Dutta was not the station house officer of the police station where the rape complaint had been lodged. He contended that Dutta had officiated as the station house officer only on January 11, 2018, and the posted station house officer had returned from his leave the next day. The case was then investigated by the deputy superintendent of police of the area and later by a special investigation team appointed by the Jammu and Kashmir Police, the lawyer argued.On the basis of these claims, Ghai argued that Dutta had no scope to destroy evidence.Senior advocate RS Cheema, appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir administration, had contended that Dutta being a police officer had colluded with the other accused, including Sanji Ram. Cheema also argued that Dutta’s house is close to where the girl’s family lives and the police officer’s presence in the locality could spark law and order problems.ALSO READ | At Rally to Protest Kathua Rape Case Arrests, Presence of Two BJP Ministers Raises EyebrowsThe court observed that Dutta had already served more than two years and seven months of his jail term. Besides, there had been no untoward incident during the 11 months and 14 days when he was out of jail on parole, it said. The court also referred to Article 21 of the Constitution (right to life and liberty) to suspend Dutta’s sentence and grant him bail.The girl’s father said he is in touch with his lawyer and will decide soon whether he would challenge the suspension of the sentence.Read all the Latest News, Breaking News and Coronavirus News here.