evidence: On 23rd January, the then Jammu and Kashmir chief minister, Mehbooba Mufti, initiated an investigation into the case, led by the crime branch unit of the state police. According to the investigation, it was revealed that the little Asifa had been confined in a local temple for all the days when she was missing and forcibly given sedatives that kept her in a state of unconsciousness. The investigation further revealed that Asifa was "raped for days, tortured and then finally murdered". She was strangled to death and then her head was hit multiple times with a stone. The investigation also led to the disclosure that Hindu extremist Sanji Ram, a 60-year-old retired government officer, orchestrated the crime with the assistance of police officers Surender Verma, Anand Dutta, Tilak Raj and Deepak Khajuria. Sanji Ram’s son, Vishal, his nephew, and his friend, Parvesh Kumar, also participated in the rape and murder[13].