Jammu, May 16 (NIE): The Hindu Ekta Manch has sought donations from public to engage counsels on behalf of the accused in seeking CBI inquiry into the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir in January.

When contacted, Manch president Vijay Sharma said a decision to make public appeal for donations was taken at a meeting of the organisation. However, it has not evoked much response so far, he said, adding that they would have to personally contact their friends and well wishers to raise funds.

“We have to mobilise enough resources so that the best legal team is mobilised to successfully plead the case before the Supreme Court. We appeal to everybody to come forward and donate generously so that a corpus of fund is created to meet the legal expenses,’’ according to a message posted by the outfit on social media.

Pointing out that the Manch has to “move Supreme Court for a CBI enquiry to find the real culprits in the murder and alleged rape of an eight-year-old girl’’, the message said, “for ensuring this, we have constituted a team of lawyers to file the due petition’’ at the earliest. “All of us have realised that CBI enquiry has become a critical requirement in case real culprits have to be nailed and innocents falsely implicated in the case are freed,’’ it added.