Terming the Kathua rape incident as 'alarming', Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti today expressed anguish that 'a living form of the Mata' has been treated so cruelly in the land where girls are worshipped as incarnation of Goddess Durga.

Addressing the 6th convocation at Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University in Kakriyal, Reasi, today, the chief minister said the heinous act of the perpetrators 'has shocked us as a society' and showed that the value system was facing a crisis.

She batted for inclusion of value education in curriculum, saying 'our material growth becomes meaningless, if we are not able to become a good human beings'.

"The entire set of rituals are practised in this part of the state (Jammu) as Kanya Puja, where minor girls have been worshipped as incarnation of Goddess Durga. How could anybody do such a heinous act against one such living form of 'Mata' in her own land," the chief minister said referring to the Kathua rape victim.

She said that Trikuta hills are known as the abode of Goddess Mata Vaishno Devi and are the best testimony of this society and how they are treating the females.

"When we talk of value system, I feel it is under crisis. The recent happening against a weaker underprivileged individual, especially a girl child, was alarming and has shocked us as a society," she said, adding 'there is something seriously wrong in our changing life system'.

"Our material growth becomes meaningless, if we are not able to become a good human being with compassion and humanity, inclusive sense and set of values, which can distinguish us as a civilized society," she added.

An eight-year-old girl was kidnapped on January 10 and her body was found on January 17 in the Kathua district.   -- PTI