Srinagar: Ten days have passed, but protesters in Chatroo, Kishtawar continue to demand justice for the rape and murder of a 14-year-old tribal girl allegedly by public school principal Khalid Hussain Sheikh. The incident has shocked Jammu and Kashmir, especially the Chenab Valley.A sixth arrest was made on the ninth day on Friday as police investigated the case. A medical worker named Sonika Parihar has been arrested in connection with the minor girl’s death.Sonika, a female multipurpose wealth worker posted at the Kishtwar district hospital, was arrested during the ongoing investigation into FIR number 34/2026 registered at the Chatroo police station.During the investigation, the police had already arrested five people in the case on August 20, including Sheikh, a second-grade teacher and principal of the Bhumalpora High School in Inderwal, and his brother. They are considered the prime suspects in the crime. Following his arrest, Sheikh was immediately suspended.The girl was a fifth-class student at the Bhumalpora High School in Chatroo.During the investigation, police found that Sheikh had sexually assaulted the underage student several times, which led to her becoming pregnant. She died on August 20 after suffering complications related to the abortion.‘Preserve every piece of evidence’According to the investigation, the accused is suspected of using drugs and having an abortion with the help of his brother.“I feel scientific evidence should be preserved and collected at the earliest. The medical records must be handled with complete integrity, and any opinion based on those records should come from an authentic and independent medical assessment. There should be no misappropriation or tampering in the handling of medical records,” lawyer Deepika Pushkar Nath told The Wire.Nath received national and international recognition for providing legal assistance to the victim’s family in the high-profile 2018 Kathua rape and murder case. “We have seen in [that] case how attempts can allegedly be made to destroy or dilute evidence. Similar possibilities cannot be ignored here. Every effort must be made to preserve the evidence and ensure that the investigation is not compromised.”She said that the primary evidence must also be preserved, and witnesses should be encouraged to give their statements in a fair and safe environment. “Their statements need to be recorded properly and without pressure. The investigating agency has a huge role to play in ensuring the integrity of the investigation.”‘Severe and strict punishment for the accused’As the protest continued, the area was shut down on Thursday. Locals demanded immediate and severe action against the accused. The call for protest was made by the Majlis-e-Shura and supported by the Sanatan Dharam Sabha.“There are influential families in Kishtawar who are trying to save the teacher. The delay in arrests shows that the issue is not being taken seriously because the victim’s family is poor. This case needs to be investigated from all angles on a priority basis,” said Burhan Dar, a social activist from Kishtawar.The protesters are demanding “severe and strict punishment for the accused”.Following the death of the minor girl and public outrage, the police registered an FIR under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act as well as the Bharatiya Nyaya Samhita for crimes such as rape and death due to miscarriage.“The drafting of the chargesheet is extremely important,” Nath said, pointing to former Wrestling Federation of India chief and BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh’s acquittal in the sexual abuse case against him. “In a sensitive case like this, the primary investigation has to be meticulous.”Talking about the sequence of events, social activist and People’s Democratic Party (PDP) leader Talib Chaudhary said that Sheikh suggested the girl’s father let her stay at his home to help with her studies. The girl’s father, a labourer, agreed. The girl complained to her father about Sheikh’s alleged sexual assault. “The young girl’s father stopped her from returning to the teacher and was going to approach the police,” he said.“Months ago, when she had first reported the sexual assault to her family, some local elders tried to cover up the matter,” Dar added.“The accused’s uncle, Haji Gah Qadir Sheikh, a former sergeant and political activist, intervened with others … They convened an informal panchayat,” Chaudhary alleged. He said the family had been persuaded not to seek police intervention due to concerns about social honour and local influence.Chaudhary said that the girl felt severe pain on August 19. The family took her to the Chatroo Primary Health Centre, where medical tests revealed that she was pregnant. The accused then allegedly tried to terminate the pregnancy at government health facilities in Kishtwar and Doda.Her father was reportedly not informed about the actual condition of the girl. Her condition worsened, and she was referred to the Government Medical College in Jammu, but she died near Udhampur while being taken towards Jammu.Officials said that the minor was initially taken to the Public Health Centre in Chatroo and was later shifted to the District Hospital in Kishtwar, by the accused and others, allegedly in connivance with a hospital daily-wage worker who is a sweeper.Chaudhary said another teacher and a relative of the accused, Latif Banday and Haroon Mir, tried to misguide the girl’s father by dismissing her pregnancy.They allegedly forced the girl and her father into a car and took them to the Kishtwar district hospital from Chatroo on August 20, where an ultrasound revealed that the girl was about five months pregnant.After undergoing treatment, she was referred to another facility where attempts were made to surgically induce delivery. During the operation, she gave birth to a stillborn child who later died.To swiftly investigate the case, the police formed a special investigation team (SIT) headed by Kishtwar special superintendent of police Pardeep Singh, along with deputy superintendent of police Nitish Sharma, Chatroo station house officer Inspector Rishi Kumar and other officers.“As a criminal lawyer, I believe the investigation in this case should be conducted with urgency and precision. A delay can result in crucial evidence being lost or destroyed. There may be several pieces of evidence that can still be examined, but the investigating agency must act swiftly and without any further delay,” Nath demanded.Meanwhile, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes has issued notices to Jammu and Kashmir’s chief secretary and director general of police as well as to Kishtwar’s senior superintendent of police. The notice, issued on August 25, follows a complaint submitted by the Tribal Gujjar Bakkarwal Welfare Foundation through its member trustee Kabir Ahmed on August 24.According to Chaudhary, the girl’s father suggested that the charges would be dropped if Sheikh married his daughter. The accused’s side reportedly rejected the proposal and suggested that Mohd Iqbal, the girl’s cousin, take responsibility for the pregnancy and pretend to be her husband, with the costs borne by the accused.The events after his death raised even greater concern. Dar, the social activist, and others close to the incident said those accompanying the girl transferred the body to an ambulance that apparently had a Punjabi registration number and tried to return to Kishtwar.Meanwhile, the girl’s father had informed the police, who tracked the vehicle and took the bodies to the Kishtwar district hospital, where they handed over the bodies of the girl and her stillborn child to her family after conducting a post-mortem.The post-mortem report revealed that the girl was five months pregnant. Fatima Farooq, who along with Chaudhary led the protest, said residents objected to claims that there was an attempt to bury the girl overnight.The protesters demanded that the case be handed over to the crime branch without delay. “We want this case to be investigated by the crime branch and demand justice for the family,” said Chaudhary.Sarah Rizvi, inspector general of police in the crime branch, confirmed to PTI that the agency had received communication from the police headquarters regarding the transfer of the case. “We are in the process of taking over the case,” she said.Meanwhile, politicians across party lines are demanding that the matter be investigated fairly and quickly.‘Not just a crime branch probe, it must be monitored’PDP president Mehbooba Mufti also requested Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha to hand over the Kishtwar rape and death case to the crime branch for a transparent and time-bound investigation.“Ten days on, the silence surrounding this brutal crime is only deepening the anguish of the grieving family and eroding public faith in the justice system. If decisive action is not taken now and the perpetrators brought to justice with exemplary punishment, such heinous crimes will continue with impunity,” she wrote on X.Nath said that a petition has been filed before the Jammu court and that it will be heard on Monday. “We will seek transfer of the case to Jammu. The objective is not merely to have the investigation transferred to the crime branch; it is also important that the investigation is properly monitored so that it remains transparent, independent and time-bound,” she said.