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Hathras case: Allahabad HC orders CBI to file status report by November 25
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Monday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a status report on the investigation into the gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras by November 25, when the case will be taken up hearing.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Monday ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to file a status report on the investigation into the gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras by November 25, when the case will be taken up hearing.
The high court order came on a day when the Uttar Pradesh government filed an affidavit in the court regarding the standard operating procedure (SOP) to be adopted when dealing with incidents such as the one in Hathras, including cremation and burial of the dead.
Hathras district magistrate Praveen Kumar Laxkar and the former superintendent of police Vikram Vir, who was suspended from service on October 2 till further orders, also appeared before the court and submitted their affidavits.
A two-judge bench of justices Pankaj Mithal and Rajan Roy heard CBI counsel SP Raju, who is also the additional solicitor general of the central government, and Uttar Pradesh additional advocate general Vinod Kumar Shahi.
“The government has submitted an affidavit regarding SOPs to be adopted to deal with Hathras-like incidents, which includes cremation and burial of the dead,” said Shahi, adding that this was subject to the court’s approval.
He did not give details of what the SOPs are.
The state government also informed the HC that Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel have been deployed at the victim’s home in Hathras as per the directions of the Supreme Court, and a compensation of ₹25 lakh had also been transferred to the bank account of the victim’s father.
Advocate Seema Kushwaha, who appeared on behalf of the victim’s family, requested the court for a permanent residence for the family members of the victim in Delhi and a job for one family member.
While additional director general of police (law and order) Praveen Kumar and secretary (home) Tarun Gaba appeared before the court on behalf of the state government, senior advocate Jaideep Narain Mathur appeared as amicus curiae (friend of the court).
On September 14, the 19-year-old Dalit victim was raped by four members of the Thakur caste in Hathras district when she had gone to the fields to collect cattle fodder. She was partially paralysed in the attack. As her condition deteriorated, she was moved to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on September 28 and died in the early hours of September 29.
At 2.30am the next day, the police forcibly cremated the body without the family’s consent in a field near the village. Local police officers, however, said the cremation was carried out “as per the wishes of the family”.
On October 12, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court criticised the Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to forcibly cremate the Dalit rape victim.
So far, UP Police has arrested four upper-caste men -- Sandeep Singh, Ravi, Ramu and Luvkush Sikarwar – for their alleged role in the incident. The accused are lodged in Delhi’s Alipur jail.
