Chandigarh, April 25 -- The Punjab and Haryana high court has dismissed the bail plea of an accused in the 2018 rape and murder case of a minor nomad girl in Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir. The high court bench of justice Shalini Nagpal, while dismissing the plea, observed that the acts alleged to have been committed by the petitioner are of a nature which "shocks the collective conscience of society and judicial conscience of the court." It, however, directed the trial court in Pathankot to expedite the proceedings and conclude preferably within one year. The accused, then a minor, is now 26 years old and has been in custody since January 19, 2018. Allegations are that in 2018, the nomadic girl was abducted on January 10 that year and raped in captivity in a small village temple in Jammu's Kathua region that was exclusively manned by the caretaker, Sanji Ram. She was kept sedated for four days and later bludgeoned to death, the chargesheet said. After initial hiccups, the case, which triggered nationwide outrage, was handed over to the state crime branch, which unravelled the conspiracy. In 2018, the Supreme Court directed the case to be shifted out of Jammu and Kashmir and directed the sessions court in Pathankot to hear it on a daily basis. The special court on June 10, 2019, sentenced three accused - Sanji Ram, the mastermind and caretaker of the 'devasthanam' (temple) where the crime took place, special police officer Deepak Khajuria and civilian Parvesh Kumar - to life imprisonment "till last breath". Three other accused - sub-inspector Anand Dutta, head constable Tilak Raj and special police officer Surender Verma - were convicted of destruction of evidence to cover up the crime and given five years in jail and Rs 50,000 fine each. The seventh accused, Vishal Jangotra, was acquitted. The trial of the minor is still underway. In the bail plea, he had said he was in custody for the last 8 years. Out of 309 witnesses, only 41 had been examined. In view of the long period of incarceration of the "young boy of 26 years", he deserved to be released on bail, it was argued. The court observed that the petitioner has been attributed principal role in the heinous crime of gang rape and murder of an 8-year-old girl. Investigation found him involved in the gruesome murder and rape right from the stage of kidnapping till she was done to death in a barbaric manner, it added. "There are reasonable grounds to believe that a prima facie case is made out against him. Though his exact role would be determined on the basis of evidence, which is yet to be led during the course of trial, prima facie, his involvement in the case is made out," it said, adding that though petitioner has been in custody for a fairly long period, the seriousness of allegations weigh "heavily" against him. "Long custody, by itself, cannot entitle him to bail considering the manner in which the crime was committed, the role attributed to him and the quantum of punishment, conviction may entail," it said, declining the prayer but requesting the trial court to expedite the trial and conclude it preferably within a period of one year....