A special court on Monday convicted six persons accused in the rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl from a nomadic community in Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir.

The seventh accused, Vishal, who is the son of main accused Sanji Ram, was acquitted.

The six convicted are Sanji Ram, the village head, his juvenile nephew, two special police officers - Deepak Khajuria and Surender Verma, head constable Tilak Raj and sub-inspector Anand Dutta.

Raj and Dutta allegedly took Rs 4 lakh from Sanji Ram and destroyed crucial evidence.

Under the Ranbir Penal Code, Sanjhi Ram, Khajuria and Kumar were charged with murder (Section 302) and gang rape (Section 376D).

Dutta, Verma and Raj were charged with destruction of evidence (Section 201).

The Ranbir Penal Code is the criminal code applicable in Jammu and Kashmir.

The quantum of punishment will be announced later on Monday.

According to the 15-page chargesheet, the girl was kidnapped on January 10 last year and raped in captivity in a small village temple in Kathua district after being sedated for four days. She was later bludgeoned to death.

The in-camera trial in the case ended on June 3.

The Supreme Court ordered that the case, which had acquired communal colour, be shifted out of Jammu and Kashmir.

The arrests sparked communal tension in the district and a group, the Hindu Ekta Manch, was floated to fight for the accused and demand that the government hand over the case to the CBI. Top BJP leaders in Jammu, among them forest minister Chowdhary Lal Singh and industries minister Chander Prakash Ganga and MLAs Rajeev Jasrotia and Kuldip Raj who represent four Assembly segments in Kathua, came out openly in support of the Manch.