JAMMU, Dec. 19 -- Expressing displeasure and anguish over 'perfunctory' exercise in the name of probe into the mysterious death of a minor girl by Jammu Police, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, on Tuesday, directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to take over the case. A 13-year-old girl was found hanging from a tree on August 15 in Gharota area of Jammu district. While hearing a petition filed by the victim's father, justice Rahul Bharti transferred the investigation to the CBI. "Special Investigation Team (SIT) showed no serious-minded effort to ascertain whether the minor died by suicide or was subjected to sexual assault and murder," Justice Bharti observed. The petitioner had moved the high court two months after the incident. In his petition, he alleged police apathy and expressed suspicion that his daughter had been raped and killed. "Despite the gravity of the case, police assigned the matter to a probationary sub-inspector, treating it like a routine inquiry rather than a sensitive investigation into a minor's death," Justice Bharti observed. He further observed that the first status report filed by the SDPO, Akhnoor, on October 31 was a two-page "ritualistic exercise" that shifted the burden onto the grieving father to explain why the police investigation was flawed, without disclosing what steps, if any, were taken to determine the cause of death. The high court also expressed shock that even the child's name was disclosed in the report in violation of legal protections. The high court also found that no executive magistrate was involved in the inquest proceedings, a pre-requisite under law, and the SIT's progress remained "at the same page" even in a second status report filed on November 24, over three months after the incident. While the postmortem report indicated ligature marks consistent with hanging and the FSL report ruled out poisoning or sexual assault, justice Bharti held that the police's lack of urgency and lack of supervision by senior officers risked destroying crucial evidence. "If more time is lost, the case would lose its crucial evidence, leaving this court as a helpless spectator," Justice Bharti said and formally placed the investigation under the CBI. Finding the ongoing probe inadequate, the court had directed the personal appearance of the in-charge SIT/SDPO Akhnoor and the SP, CBI, (Jammu), on Thursday. The court underscored that justice for the child required an impartial, professionally handled inquiry....