AGRA: The main defendant in the alleged gang rape and murder of the 19-year-old Dalit girl from Hathras has affirmed his innocence in a letter to Hathras SP Vineet Jaiswal, saying that his family does not approve of his “friendship” and that it was they who they beat her to the point where she became critical. The family dismissed the letter as a “tactic” to escape punishment.
The letter carries thumbprints of the main defendant, Sandeep, who wrote the letter, and the other three: Lavkush, Ravi and Ramu. The girl, in her last statement before a magistrate, had said that the four had gang-raped her and had named them.
“The prison administration received the letter, addressed to Hathras SP, on Thursday. It has been forwarded,” said Aligarh District Prison Jailer Pramod Kumar Singh. Super jailer Ashok Singh also confirmed that the letter had been sent.
“She (the girl) lived in my village and I was friendly with her. Sometimes we talked on the phone. His family did not approve of this. I met her the day of the incident. Her mother and brother were with her… she asked me to leave and I went home, ”the letter said. “Later, I learned that her mother and brother had brutally beaten her, leaving her seriously injured,” he added. He also pleaded not guilty on behalf of the other three and requested their release. The victim’s father said the letter was a tactic.
Congress Secretary General Priyanka Gandhi tweeted: “Creating a narrative that smears a woman’s character and makes her … responsible … is disgusting and regressive. A heinous crime has been committed in Hathras, leaving a 20-year-old Dalit woman dead. She deserves justice, not slander. ”
.
