New Delhi: After a secretly recorded video of the Hathras District Magistrate (DM) issuing a veiled threat to the father of the Dalit gang rape victim was leaked, the local administration has been pressuring the family to change their statement.
The defendants in this case are Thakurs, an influential upper caste community.
On Thursday, Congress Secretary-General Randeep Singh Surjewala posted on social media platforms what appeared to be a leaked video showing DM Praveen Laxkar at the victim’s family home.
सुनिए हाथरस के DM ने लड़की के पिता से क्या कहा: मीडिया आज यहॉं है, कल नहीं रहेगी. सब चले जायेंगे।
आप सरकार की बात मान लो, शर्मनाक।
ये धमकी नहीं तो क्या है?# डरपोक_योगी pic.twitter.com/R8j1kmDhVy
– Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) October 1, 2020
The 19-year-old Dalit woman had been dragged away from fields where she was cutting grass and brutally raped by four Thakur men in her village on September 14. She succumbed to her injuries at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi two weeks later, on September 29. Even with the media on the ground, the police forced the victim’s cremation after midnight on Wednesday (September 30), locking up the family.
In the video that has been secretly filmed, DM Laxkar is seen sitting inside the premises of the family residence and advising the father to soften his posture.
“Half of the media has left today, the other half will leave tomorrow. Only we will be with you. It is up to you whether you want to change your statement or not, ”Laxkar is heard saying.
Laxkar is also known to have enforced the illegal ban on azaan in Hathras, along with other DMs, which the Allahabad high court struck down.
The victim’s family has been demanding an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). By the way, the entire village has been sealed off from the outside, without the media staff being able to visit and talk to the family. According latest media reports, the family claimed that all members’ mobile phones have been taken away. Seema Kushwaha, who was Nirbhaya’s attorney in the Delhi gangrape case in 2012, said the administration did not allow him to meet the family.
हमें डराया-धमकाया जा रहा है, पुलिस हमें बाहर नहीं जाने दे रही: पीड़ित का भाई #HathrasHorror #HathrasCase pic.twitter.com/nl1BIKgzsd
– News24 (@ news24tvchannel) October 2, 2020
The family (of the alleged gangrape victim) has called me to #Hathras since they want me to be their legal advisor. I am not allowed to meet with them as the administration says it will affect the law and order situation: Seema Kushwaha, lawyer for the victim in the 2012 Delhi gangrape case pic.twitter.com/BC0B1wF7Vm
– ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) October 1, 2020
Following outrage at the video, Laxkar spoke to the news agency. AND ME and denied trying to make them change their statements.
Yesterday I met with 6 members of the victim’s family and we talked for about an hour and a half. I met with them again today to see their point of discontent. I deny the negative rumors that abound about my interactions with them: PK Laxkar, District Magistrate, Hathras pic.twitter.com/aY1UGeI0rr
– ANI (@ANI) October 1, 2020
“His main reason for apprehension is that the condemned must be punished and hanged. I tried to allay their fears and told them that the matter would be tried in a fast track court, “he added.
The victim’s father, according to media reports, claimed that he was being forced to go to the local police station and sign a document in which he said he was “satisfied with the police investigation” in the case. The document had already been signed by three other relatives following instructions from police officers.
“But we are not satisfied with this. My daughter’s case must be investigated by the IWC and supervised by a Supreme Court judge. We are under pressure from officials and confined to our home, while the media has also not been allowed to meet with us, “he said, according to a video shared by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Twitter.
हाथरस की बेटी के पिता का बयान सुनिए।
उन्हें जबरदस्ती ले जाया गया। सीएम से वीसी के नाम पर बस दबाव डाला गया। वो जांच की कार्रवाई से संतुष्ट नहीं हैं।
अभी पूरे परिवार को नजरबंद रखा है। बात करने पर मना है।
क्या धमकाकर उन्हें चुप कराना चाहती है सरकार?
अन्याय पर अन्याय हो रहा है। pic.twitter.com/6lIW1hdvDc
– Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) October 1, 2020
The wire He managed to speak with the victim’s brother, who claimed that the family was under constant surveillance by the police authorities. “Our family is in detention. We cannot leave the house. I can not go to the Bathroom. I can’t talk to anyone. “
According to the victim’s sister-in-law, the district magistrate had been intimidating the family during their interaction at her home. “Yesterday he took my father-in-law out of the house and told him to tell the media that everything is fine and that there is no pressure.”
The DM reportedly told the family that pursuing the case can backfire on them. Dainik Bhaskar reported.
“When I asked him, ‘How could we not see her?’ She said, ‘Do you understand the meaning of post mortem?’ She said that in an autopsy they split her skull, they threw her guts … They cut from her throat to her abdomen with a knife, “said the sister-in-law. Bhaskar, from your discussion with the district magistrate.
He also allegedly told the family on October 1 that there was no case of rape and indicated that they had fabricated the matter to obtain compensation.
“The DM was saying it was rape, and if she died for the crown, would you have received compensation? He spoke as if we were waiting for the death of a person. Do we need your compensation after such an accident? If you had a daughter and this happened to her, would she receive compensation? When I told her this, she started yelling and scolding me. “
The claim of the local authorities that the criminal case was not a matter of rape was reinforced by the Uttar Pradesh Additional Director General of Police (Public Order), Prashant Kumar. “The post mortem report says that the victim died due to his neck injury. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report has found no sperm in the samples, making it clear that some people twisted matters to stir up the caste-based tension. These people will be identified and legal action will be taken, ”Kumar was quoted as saying by the ANI news agency.
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