Hathras: The SIT visited the woman’s village, the site of the attack and cremation on Tuesday.
Hathras / Lucknow:
A special investigation team or SIT investigating the alleged gang rape and torture of a young Dalit in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, has been given an additional ten days to deliver its findings. The team was due to present its report today, but was granted an extension by order of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a senior official said today.
“Following the orders of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the time given to the SIT to present its report to the Chief Minister has been extended by 10 days,” Awanish K Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary of UP, Department of the Interior, was quoted as saying by news reports. ANI agency.
Yogi Adityanath had ordered the investigation amid national outrage after the woman died last week from serious injuries in the assault by four upper-caste men from her village on September 14.
The UP government and the police face accusations of trying to cover up the crime after responding poorly to complaints from the woman’s family. The scrutiny intensified after the Hathras police, following the woman’s death on September 29, cremated the body at 2.30 am in her village, against the wishes of her family. Her parents had pleaded with the police to take her body and hold her funeral the next morning.
The three-member SIT visited the woman’s village, the fields where she was attacked and the cremation site yesterday. The team was accompanied by a forensic expert as they examined the fields where the 20-year-old was found badly injured, bleeding and with her tongue cut out.
The task force includes UP Secretary of the Interior Bhagwan Swaroop, Deputy Inspector General of Police Chandraprakash and Police Officer Poonam.
“Our investigation will be complete by tomorrow. We hope that we can present the report to the state government tomorrow. If we cannot complete the investigation for whatever reason, we can one or two more days,” sources in the investigation. panel had said yesterday.
The UP police, fighting the accusations of failures in their response to the case, allege that there was no rape or gang rape and that a forensic report proves it. This assertion has been questioned by experts who point out that the samples were taken 11 days after the woman was attacked.
The victim was cremated in the middle of the night “to prevent large-scale violence” the next morning, the Uttar Pradesh government told the Supreme Court on Tuesday, citing intelligence input from “major public order problems.”
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