[DAWN] Eight men accused of raping and murdering an eight-year-old girl pleaded not guilty"Wudn't me."
on Monday to the horrific crime that has sparked revulsion and brought thousands to India's streets in protest.
Four police and a Hindu temple custodian are among those accused of gang raping and killing a Moslem girl from a poor tribe in Jammu and Kashmire state where the highly-charged case has stoked long-simmering religious tensions.
The accused men appeared in court in the city of Kathua on Monday for the first time since being tossed in the clink
Book 'im, Mahmoud!
in February for the girl's murder.
Ankur Sharma, a lawyer for the accused, said the men had pleaded not guilty and were willing to take a lie-detector test. The court adjourned the case for procedural reasons, he added.
"The court has directed that chargesheet copies should be provided to all the accused. The next date of hearing is April 28," Sharma told news hounds.
The girl was kidnapped, drugged and raped over five days at the Hindu temple in January before being strangled and bludgeoned with a rock.
The case ignited moral outrage and mass demonstrations across India after details of her gruesome death were made public by police last week.