Amid nationwide outrage following the death of a young woman who was allegedly gang-raped and brutalized by four men in UP’s Hathras leading to her death, the district judge on Thursday appeared to raise questions about the rape.
The victim, in her statement to the police, had named the four defendants who were later arrested under Sections 376 D (gang rape) and 307 (attempted murder) of the Indian Penal Code.
Speaking about the medical examination report, Hathras District Magistrate Praveen Kumar said there were no injuries to the victim’s private parts and samples were sent to the forensic science lab in Agra to conclusively establish whether it was treated. or not of a gang rape incident.
“The report from the forensic science laboratory in Agra may arrive in three days and will clarify the picture,” said Kumar even as the Special Investigation Team (SIT) arrived in Boolgarhi village and began the investigation of the gang rape case.
Bhagwan Swaroop, a senior IPS officer, who serves as the secretary of the Department of the Interior, heads the SIT, which has been asked to present its report within a week.
Two other SIT members are Deputy Inspector General of Police Chandra Prakash and Poonam (who has only one name), commander of the 15th Battalion of Agra Provincial Armed Police.
“SIT headed by Bhagwan Swaroop and two other members came to Hathras. They were in town on Thursday to interact with the girl’s relatives. The SIT is recording statements and has also gone to the crime scene, ”said the Hathras district magistrate.
“Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code was imposed in the Hathras district and no illegal gathering of persons will be allowed,” said the district magistrate. Section 144 prohibits the gathering of four or more people.
Journalists were reportedly banned from the village after some police personnel were found with symptoms of Covid-19.
“We have asked these policemen to take the test and if they test positive the village could be declared a containment zone. Therefore, the entry of outsiders, including the media, has been stopped in the face of the apprehension of Covid-19, ”said DM Hathras.
There were also reports that Congressional leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi set out on foot to meet the family of the Hathras gang rape victim after police stopped them on the Yamuna Highway.
citing prohibition orders.
However, Kumar denied any information about the arrival of the two congressional leaders.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman died in a Delhi hospital on Tuesday 15 days after she was gang-raped in Hathras while she was out foraging with her mother. She was cremated in the early hours of Wednesday, and her family alleged that local police forced them to perform the last rites in the dead of night.
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