A day after Uttar Pradesh Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath recommended an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the alleged gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in the Hathras district of the state, a special investigation team (SIT) recorded the statements of the victim’s relatives on Sunday.
The SIT team led by Senior Indian Police Service (IPS) Officer Bhagwan Swaroop continues their investigation even as CBI has been asked to take over. The victim’s family, however, is not in favor of the CBI investigation and wants a judicial investigation into the case, which has sparked outrage and protests in the country.
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The SIT team present in the Boolgarhi village of Hathras is interacting with interested people and has said: “Anyone who wants to make a statement is welcome.” The team had previously interacted with the villagers on Thursday and also visited the crime scene.
The woman was raped by four “upper caste” men on 14 September, after which she was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College of the Muslim University of Aligarh after being partially paralyzed. She was later transferred to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi, where she died on Tuesday.
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The woman’s body was forcibly cremated by the UP police the next day at 2:30 am against the wishes of her relatives. “We lay down in front of the ambulance, but they took us out and the cremation was forcibly done at night,” said one of her relatives on Saturday.
The opposition has requested the resignation of the prime minister. Adityanath, however, has secured the severest punishment for the guilty. “For the purpose of an intensive investigation of the unfortunate incident at Hathras and all the @UPGovt points connected, the case is being recommended through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). We are determined to bring the severest punishment to all those responsible for this incident, ”he wrote on Twitter.
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