Jammu: The Jammu and Kashmir Police have arrested a staff nurse from Kishtwar District Hospital for her alleged role in the illegal termination of a 7-to-8-month pregnancy of a 14-year-old tribal girl, who delivered a stillborn baby and subsequently died on August 20.
The nurse’s arrest on Friday brings the total number of people held in the case to six.
“The police have arrested Sonika, a nurse at the District Hospital, Kishtwar, as the sixth accused in the ongoing investigation into the suspicious death of a minor girl from the Chatroo area,” a police spokesperson said. The arrest was made under FIR No. 34/2026 at Chatroo police station, incorporating charges under the POCSO Act, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), and the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Investigators said that the victim was repeatedly sexually assaulted over several months by her school teacher, Khalid Hussain Sheikh, 42, resulting in her advanced pregnancy.
According to a special investigation team (SIT) probe constituted by the Kishtwar senior superintendent of police (SSP), Sheikh conspired with his brother to forcibly end the pregnancy by administering drugs. When complications arose, the accused took the girl to a public health centre in Chatroo. She was later shifted to Kishtwar District Hospital with the assistance of an insider—a sanitation worker at the facility who was terminated from service on Thursday for conspiring to conceal information about the crime.
Sonika’s direct role in the botched termination procedure surfaced during subsequent interrogations, leading to her arrest.
“During investigation, material surfaced regarding the alleged sexual exploitation of the minor, her pregnancy, attempts to terminate the pregnancy, and the involvement of multiple persons, including those connected with her medical treatment,” the police statement said.
Police said that the SIT is executing a scientific, impartial, and evidence-based investigation, and further arrests will be pursued wherever warranted.
Meanwhile, public outrage has mounted in the region. Local residents, led by former minister GM Saroori, reached out to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, requesting that the probe be handed over to the J&K Crime Branch. They urged the authorities to expedite the chargesheet and send the matter to a fast-track court for prompt justice.
