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From Hathras gang-rape victim’s death to CBI probe recommendation: What we know so far
The woman’s death triggered massive outrage across the country with opposition leaders hitting out at the state government over women’s security in Uttar Pradesh.
A 19-year-old Dalit woman was raped by four upper-caste men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district earlier this month. She went missing on September 14 and was found badly injured by her mother. As the details of the cases came out, it triggered nationwide outrage with opposition parties calling for chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s resignation.
Her death triggered massive outrage across the country with opposition leaders hitting out at the state government over women’s security in Uttar Pradesh.
Here is what unfolded following her death in Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital earlier this week:
* On Monday, the Hathras woman was shifted to the Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital from Aligarh Muslim University’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital as her condition did not improve.
* She succumbed to her injuries in the Delhi hospital on Tuesday.
* Following her death, the Uttar Pradesh police brought the body to her home in Hathras. She was cremated by the police forcefully in the dead of the night, claimed her family on Wednesday. The administration maintains that it was done with the consent of the family.
* The sudden cremation gave fuel to speculation that the Yogi Adityanath’s government was trying to suppress information regarding the case. The chief minister constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case on Thursday.
* On the same day, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi along with party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and a convoy of supporters tried to march towards the victim’s village. The police stopped the Gandhi siblings and the convoy citing Section 144. Rahul Gandhi was manhandled by police personnel at the Yamuna expressway and they were briefly detained before being escorted back to Delhi.
* On Friday, Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien and others also tried to reach Hathras. They were stopped before they could reach the victim’s village. A team of the Uttar Pradesh police also manhandled O’Brien and he was pushed to the ground as personnel tried to stop them.
* On the basis of a preliminary inquiry report by the SIT on Friday, the chief minister suspended Hathras’ superintendent of police Vikrant Vir and four other policemen.
* On Saturday, the administration allowed media to enter the village and lifted some of the restrictions which were imposed on Thursday.
* Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi left for Hathras on Saturday to meet the woman’s family. After being stopped briefly at Delhi-Noida border, the police finally allowed them to go ahead.
* After meeting the family, Priyanka Gandhi said that the woman’s relatives want a judicial probe into the matter to be conducted through the Supreme Court. The family also sought the suspension of Hathras’ district magistrate, she wrote on Twitter.
* Adityanath also recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the case.
