Six Indian men convicted for rape and murder of 8-year-old Kashmiri girl

Case led to the introduction of the death penalty for rapists of girls below the age of 12

Kashmiri activists hold torches and march in a protest against the rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir (AP)

Six men have been convicted of involvement in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in India.

The girl came from a nomadic Muslim community that roams the forests of Kashmir.

She was drugged, held captive in a temple and sexually assaulted for a week before being strangled and battered to death with a stone in January 2018.

The abduction, rape and murder was part of a plan to remove the minority nomadic community from the area, the charge sheet said.

Among those accused were a Hindu priest and police officers.

"This is a victory of truth," prosecution lawyer M Farooqi told reporters outside the court. "The girl and her family has got justice today. We are satisfied with the judgment."

He said the prosecution was seeking the death penalty for three men - priest Sanji Ram, Deepak Khajuria and Parvesh Kumar - who were convicted of rape and murder.

Three others, Surinder Kumar, Tilak Raj and Anand Dutta, were convicted of lesser crimes of destroying evidence.

A lawyer leading the legal team representing the accused, AK Sawhney, told reporters they planned to appeal the verdict.

The case sparked outrage in India and led to the introduction of the death penalty for rapists of girls below the age of 12.

The trial, held in private, began over a year ago in Pathankot, a town around 44 miles from Rasana village in Kathua district, where the rape and murder took place, in the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

India's Supreme Court shifted the trial to the neighbouring state of Punjab after the girl's family and lawyer said they faced death threats.

Local lawyers and Hindu politicians, including some from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, held protests in support of the accused.

India has long been plagued by violence against women and children.

Reported rapes climbed 60 per cent to 40,000 from 2012 to 2016, according to government statistics, and many more go unreported, especially in rural areas.

In total there are eight people accused of involvement in the case. The seventh man, named as Vishal, was found not guilty on Monday, Mr Farooqi said, while the eighth, a juvenile, is currently awaiting trial.

Additional reporting by agencies