A team from the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) questioned the families of the four defendants in the Hathras gang rape case on Thursday.
For interrogation, investigators visited the village of the 19-year-old Dalit woman who died in a Delhi hospital on September 29, 15 days after she was allegedly gang-raped and mistreated in Hathras on September 14.
On Thursday, strict police security was observed in the houses of the accused, identified as Sandeep, Ravi, Ramu and Luvkush, who are housed in the Aligarh prison. The CBI team interrogated Luvkush Sikarwar’s relatives for more than three hours.
Before heading to the victim’s village in Hathras, two CBI officers visited the Chandpa police station on Thursday morning.
Relatives of the defendants refused to give details to the media about the questions posed by the IWC.
On Wednesday, the lead agency had questioned the victim’s father and two brothers for six hours. The interrogation began at the CBI camp office in Hathras at 11 am and continued until 5 pm. Hathras Subdivision Magistrate Anjali Gangwar said: “The male members of the victim’s family were called to the CBI camp office and taken there in complete safety.” The agency’s camp office has been established in the office of the deputy director (agriculture) in the city of Hathras.
Earlier, Seema Pahuja, who heads the CBI team, met with the female members of the victim’s family on Tuesday.
A 15-member CBI team inspected the crime scene Tuesday and called the victim’s brother there. The victim’s mother and aunt were also called to the scene later that day. The CBI team also visited the site where the victim was cremated at 2.30am on September 30, even while his family was protesting. The family had claimed that they could not even see their daughter’s face for the last time.
Relatives of the victim have also requested the authorities to transfer the four defendants from Aligarh prison to another distant prison. The subdivisional magistrate responded by saying: “That decision can be made at the government level, if a lawsuit is made.”
Regarding the interrogation on Wednesday, the victim’s brother told the ANI news agency: “They interrogated my father, my brother and me separately. The accused must also be questioned. They asked us where we were during the incident and how we found out. “
When asked if he was satisfied with the CBI investigation, he said: “Santusht tabhi honge jab yeh sab clear ho jayega (I will be satisfied once there is justice).”
The victim’s father said the CBI team was nice to him.
“They give me time to rest during the interrogation. They were good to us. They also gave me food, ”he said.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman had named the four defendants before her death. The incident sparked protests across the country.
(With contributions from the agency)
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