A 19-year-old Dalit woman was gang-raped and tortured by “higher” caste men in Hathras of Uttar Pradesh on September 14 while going out with her mother to gather fodder.
He died a fortnight later at Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi.
The victim’s relatives affirmed that his body was cremated by UP Police in his absence at 2.30 am on Wednesday. Dalit community leaders and women’s rights activists protested the police action, calling it a “new low”.
Here is a timeline of events:
– Shortly after the victim’s death on September 29, Bhim’s army chief Chandrashekhar Azad led a protest at gate 5 of Safdarjung hospital. “The government should not test our patience. We will not rest until the culprits are hanged, ”he said.
– The midnight cremation of the victims’ bodies was criticized by opposition parties, who claimed that the Yogi Adityanath government did it to suppress the protests.
– Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, said the girl and her family were denied dignity even in death and mourning. “When the family found her and took her to the police station, the police said that she was trying to catch people and then they hospitalized her and didn’t keep her in the ICU for six days and then on her death, the police blamed to the family of the victim and they are denying this Dalit family and the dignity of the victims even in death and mourning, ”he said.
– Congressional leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi attempted to visit the victim’s family in Hathras on Thursday, but their convoy was stopped due to Section 144 in the area. After Rahul Gandhi said “I will walk alone to Hathras”, he and his sister Priyanka were arrested by the UP police.
– The Gandhis were taken away in a police jeep and kept in a guest house for some time before being released and escorted back to Delhi by UP police. Meanwhile, Congress claimed the leaders were arrested by the police and attacked UP CM Adityanath for the move.
– A first information report (FIR) was presented against the Gandhis under the pandemic law by the UP Police for their march towards Hathras.
– The Bharatiya Janata Party, on the other hand, called the Gandhi brothers’ proposed visit to Hathras “political tourism”.
– On Friday, both Chandrashekhar Azad and the Aam Aadmi Party called a protest in Jantar Mantar. Hundreds of people, including Azad, head of the AAP and CM Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi, the general secretary of the CPM, Sitaram Yechury, and the leader of the CPI, D Raja, participated in the protest.
– “The whole country wants the guilty to receive severe punishment. Some people feel that attempts are being made to save them. Right now, the victim’s family needs all possible help, ”Kejriwal said.
– In Jantar Mantar, Azad said he will visit Hathras and urged the Supreme Court to take notice of the incident.
– In another development, UP CM Adityanath ordered the suspension of Hathras Police Superintendent Vikrant Vir and two other police officers for their handling of the case. They would also carry out “narcoanalysis polygraph tests” on everyone involved in the case.
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