The Supreme Court on Friday took suo motu notice of an incident of lawyers of Jammu and Kathua bar associations preventing a woman lawyer from appearing for the family of a rape victim.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice D.Y. Chandrachud directed the members of both the associations to ensure that access of justice was not denied to the victim's family and that no obstruction is caused to them.

The court also issued notice to the Bar Council of India, Jammu & Kashmir Bar Council, Jammu Bar Association and Kathua District Bar Association seeking response as it was brought to its notice that lawyers did not allow the the filing of the chargesheet.

In January, an eight-year-old girl went missing while grazing horses in Rassana forest in Jammu and Kashmir's Kathua district. A week later, her body was recovered.

Investigations revealed she was held captive inside a temple, and was sedated before being repeatedly raped and murdered.