Life terms for three over rape and murder in Kashmir of Muslim girl, eight

Prosecutors will appeal and seek the death penalty for the three who received life terms.

File photo of Kashmiri activists holding torches and marching in a protest against the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl, in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir (Dar Yasin/AP)

By Aijaz Hussain, Associated Press

A court has sentenced three Hindu men, including a police officer, to life imprisonment for kidnapping, raping and murdering an eight-year-old Muslim girl in Indian-controlled Kashmir, in a case that has exacerbated tensions in the disputed region.

Judge Tejwinder Singh sentenced three other policemen to five years in prison for destroying evidence, prosecutor Santokh Singh told reporters.