Updated: October 10, 2020 9:59:48 pm
Flowers scattered on the funeral pyre of the 19-year-old. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)
The Center issued a notification on Saturday that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will take over the investigation into the alleged theft and murder of the 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras of Uttar Pradesh. The agency’s investigation teams will be dispatched to the crime scene along with forensic experts immediately after an FIR is searched, PTI officials cited.
The state government headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had recommended a CBI investigation into the Hathras case after it faced intense criticism from the opposition for its handling of the case, including rushed cremation without family presence. The opposition parties also called for the resignation of the CM even when some critical voices within the BJP have come to light.
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The woman was allegedly raped by four upper caste men on September 14 and was referred to Safdarjung Hospital in an extremely critical condition. He died two weeks later, on September 29. The defendants – Sandeep, 20, his uncle Ravi, 35, and his friends Ramu, 26, and Luv Kush, 23 – have been charged with murder, gangrape and under the SC / ST Act. However, they have written to the Hathras Police Superintendent, claiming they are “innocent” and that the 19-year-old woman was beaten by her brother and mother on September 14, the day of the incident.
Early today, the The Interior Ministry ordered the state police to strictly adhere to the guidelines and adopt rigorous measures in cases related to crimes against women. Police have been criticized for allegedly intimidating the relatives of the deceased, refusing to hand over the victim’s body to the family and collecting forensic samples 11 days after the crime.
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