Updated: October 4, 2020 8:36:41 pm
Police were deployed in the Dalit women’s village of Hathras on Sunday. (Express photo by Praveen Khanna)
Dozens of people held a meeting Sunday outside the home of a former MLA BJP in Hathras where they defended the defendants in the suspected gangrape of a Dalit woman who later diedand demanded the registration of an FIR against his relatives.
A heavy police force was deployed in the vicinity of the residence of former BJP MLA Rajvir Singh Pehalvan, located about 8-9 kilometers from the victim’s village.
One of the organizers of the meeting and Pehalvan’s son, Manveer Singh, denied that the meeting was made up of members of the upper castes, saying they were from “different sectors of society.”
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“We welcome the CBI investigation ordered by the Prime Minister of Uttar Pradesh. We have faith in the investigation, ”Singh told PTI while claiming that the victim’s relatives were“ changing positions ”.
“The whole scenario has been created to blame the government. The defendants are in favor of any type of investigation. But victims change positions from time to time. They don’t want a drug test or a CBI probe. Now they want other types of consultations, “he said.
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He said the police should register an FIR against the complainants in the case. “Our demand is that a case be brought against the people who had presented it in the first instance,” he said.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper caste men in Hathras on September 14. She died on September 29.
On Sunday, Singh also said that various legal options were being explored to defend the defendants in the case. He claimed that the detention of some of the accused at their homes was proof of their innocence.
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“If they had been guilty, they would have run away from their homes. Why would they be present in their homes? “, He said. He also alleged that Congress and the Samajwadi Party were trying to influence the victim’s family because they wanted the issue to be “delayed.”
The meeting takes on significance as it took place a day after Congressional leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra visited the victim’s home and met with members of his family in a village in Hathras district, and the recommendation of a CBI investigation by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
The victim was cremated in the middle of the night near his home on Wednesday. Her family alleged that the local police forced them to hastily perform their last rites. However, local police officers had said that the cremation was carried out “according to the wishes of the family.”
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