A screenshot of Hathras DM talking to the rape victim’s family. (Twitter / Randeep Singh Surjewala)
Video shared by Congress Secretary General Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday evening showed the Hathras district magistrate issuing a veiled threat to the victim’s father.
News18.comNew Delhi
Last update: October 1, 2020 9:42 PM IST
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Hathras District Magistrate Praveen Laxkar was caught on camera launching a veiled “threat” at the father of the rape victim when he asked him to comply with the government. The video was shared by Congress Secretary General Randeep Singh Surjewala on Thursday evening.
The victim’s family, who succumbed to her injuries in a Delhi hospital after she was allegedly gang-raped in Hathras, also alleged that the district administration was pressuring them not to repeatedly change their statement. The woman’s father said he was being pressured by government officials and demanded an IWC investigation into the matter.
“Half the media people have left today, the other half will leave tomorrow. Only we will be with you. It is up to you whether you want to change your statement or not,” Laxkar was heard saying.
सुनिए हाथरस के DM ने लड़की के पिता से क्या कहा: मीडिया आज यहॉं है, कल नहीं रहेगी. सब चले जायेंगे।
Sharing the video, Surjewala said: “Listen to what DM Hathras said to the girl’s father. ‘The media is here today, they will leave tomorrow. Everyone will leave. Listen to the government.” Shame. Is this a threat or not? “
However, Laxkar later on Thursday dropped the reports about his interaction with the family, according to the ANI news agency.
“I met with six family members of the victim yesterday and we spoke for about an hour and a half. I met with them again today to see their point of discontent. I deny the negative rumors that abound about my interactions with them,” he added. he said.
“Their main point of apprehension is that those convicted should be punished and hanged to death. I tried to allay their fears and told them that the matter would be tried in a fast track court,” he added.
The father, in his 50s, said he was pressured to go to a police station where the district magistrate and police officers forced three members of his family to sign a document. “But we are not satisfied with this. My daughter’s case must be investigated by the IWC and supervised by a Supreme Court judge. We are under pressure from officials and confined to our home, while the media is also he has forbidden them to meet us, “he said. he said in an alleged video shared by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Twitter.
The 20-year-old Dalit woman was raped in a village in UP’s Hathras by four men on September 14. The woman had died two weeks after being brutally attacked while helping her mother in the field. She had suffered multiple fractures, paralysis and a cut to her tongue in the horrific assault.
She was admitted to Aligarh Muslim University Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital and College of Medicine and was transferred to Safdarjung Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries on Tuesday. The woman was cremated in Hathras early Wednesday morning, and her family alleged that local police forced them to perform the last rites in the dead of night.
The four attackers, upper caste men from the women’s village, are in jail. Now they will also be charged with murder. UP police are under scrutiny for alleged lapses throughout the case, and the inexplicable rush for cremation has further increased anger and confusion in the town.
