The lawyer is currently living in government accommodation, but has been asked to leave since she is no longer representing the Kathua victim’s family.
Pallavi Sareen
Lawyer Deepika Singh Rajawat, who played an important role in the Kathua rape case, is finding it difficult to rent a home in Jammu.
Rajawat’s housing problem began after the Bakharwal family, whose case made her an overnight star, removed her as their lawyer.
Rajawat received rape and death threats, and was constantly trolled, following which then chief minister Mehbooba Mufti provided her with government accommodation.
The lawyer lives in a government quarter in Gandhi Nagar, with her six-year-old daughter. Threats against her have increased manifold over the course of the past few weeks, she says, as the family’s application to remove her as their lawyer came to light.
Since governor’s rule was imposed in Jammu and Kashmir, things have become harder for her. Her accommodation was provided on Mufti’s verbal orders and Rajawat was told to vacate immediately after she was removed from the Kathua case.
Another reason is supposedly the landlords’ unwillingness to accommodate the PSOs and the constant media persons who come to visit her. Landlords also fear that their house will be targeted by those who wish to harm her. Rajawat now faces the prospect of being homeless with her six-year-old daughter.
The harassment she faced from officials reduced after former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti tweeted about the matter.
