Kavinder Gupta was among 8 new ministers who were sworn in on Monday and joined the state's PDP-BJP government led by Mehbooba Mufti. (Photo: ANI | Twitter)

New Delhi: Hours after he was sworn in as the Deputy Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Kavinder Gupta on Monday sparked a controversy by terming the horrific Kathua gangrape and murder case as a ‘minor incident’.

Gupta was among eight new ministers who were sworn in on Monday and joined the state's PDP-BJP government led by Mehbooba Mufti.

Speaking to reporters, Gupta said, “The Kathua incident is a minor one and it shouldn’t be given much importance.”

“Kathua case is subjudice. The Supreme Court will now decide over the matter. Discussing the topic again and again is not right. There are a lot of such cases and attempts should not be made to exaggerate this particular case,” Kavinder Gupta told news agency ANI.

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The Kathua gangrape and murder case had sparked nationwide outrage with people staging protests across country seeking justice for the eight-year-old girl.

The girl went missing while grazing horses in Rasana village of Hiranagar tehsil of J&K’s Kathua district on January 10. A week later, her body was found in woods near her village. The DNA and police investigations have revealed that she was held inside a local temple where she was drugged, raped and killed.