President Ram Nath Kovind arrived here on Wednesday and strongly condemned the gang rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua in Jammu and Kashmir.

"Such an incident happening in our country after 70 years of independence is shameful. We have to decide what kind of a society we are developing into," the President said at the sixth convocation of the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University at Katra town.

"It is our duty to ensure that such a thing does not happen in future to any of our daughters or sisters."

The President, who is on a two-day visit to the state, said the success of a society lay in the kind of protection it provides to its children.

Kovind arrived here earlier amid heightened security. He was received by Governor N.N. Vohra and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti.

All eight men accused in the brutal rape and murder of the girl from the nomadic Bakerwal community in January have been arrested. The case will be heard on April 28 in the court of the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Kathua.