the Supreme Court asked the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday to provide a response by Wednesday on its witness protection plan and whether the family of the 19-year-old Dalit gangrape victim from Hathras has access to a lawyer Living law reported.
Four upper caste Thakur men had brutally raped and tortured the woman, who died on 29 September. The Uttar Pradesh administration had hastily cremated her body against her family’s wishes while they were locked up in their home, sparking outrage and protests.
A bench of three judges led by the Chief Justice of India’s Supreme Court, Sharad A Bobde, was listening to a petition requesting an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation or a Special Investigation Team overseen by sitting or retired judges in the matter. The state has asked the Supreme Court to conduct an IWC investigation not only into the gangrape of the woman, but also into the case related to an alleged criminal conspiracy to spread the caste conflict by the media and the political parties.
The court called the incident “extraordinary” and “shocking”. He also solicited suggestions from all parties on the scope of the proceedings before the Allahabad High Court and what he could do to expand it.
Attorney General Tushar Mehta, who appeared for the state government, said he did not oppose the petition, but was concerned about the alleged “sensationalization of the death of a girl.” “All kind of people, political parties giving a narrative or another, ”he told the court. “Their Lordships must oversee the investigation and the purpose of the investigation must not be lost.”
lawyer Indira JaisingMeanwhile, he said that protecting the woman’s family was paramount. “A fair investigation guarantees the protection of the family,” he said.
Jaising added that the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Atrocity Prevention) Act of 1989 should be invoked and that the matter should be moved to delhi, as was done with the Unnao rape case. “Your Honor must protect the victim’s family through witness protection,” she said.
The Supreme Court adjourned the matter for next week.
Midnight cremation made to prevent violence: UP government
Before the hearing, the Government of Uttar Pradesh He told the Supreme Court that the woman’s body was hastily cremated to prevent “large-scale violence.”
“The Hathras district administration had been receiving various intelligence inputs since the morning of September 29 on the way the dharna had taken place at Safdarjung hospital and the whole thing was being exploited and colored by caste / communal, “the state said. the government claimed in an affidavit. “Extraordinary circumstances forced the extraordinary step of cremating the victim at night.”
The Adityanath-led government justified the midnight cremation, where neither state police nor government officials had requested the family’s permission to perform the funeral rite, claiming there was a high alert in Hathras district due to the demolition verdict. for Babri Masjid. day after.
He also said that large gatherings were not allowed due to the coronavirus pandemic. “In such extraordinary and severe circumstances, the district administration made the decision to convince the parents of the deceased to incinerate her with all religious rites at night to avoid large-scale violence in the morning to incinerate the body of the victim. that he lay almost more than 20 hours after his death and post-mortem, ”said the affidavit.
The government also informed the court that there were no indications of rape in the case. “The JJ Medical Hospital Aligarh interim medical report had no prima facie rape findings. The samples were sent to FSL Agra, which issued its final ruling ruling out the violation, ”states the affidavit.
The medical director of Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, where the woman was first admitted, had denied the forensic laboratory report, saying it was “worthless” as it was based on samples taken 11 days after the crime was committed. crime. Experts have also noted that since the samples for the test were collected many days after the crime was committed, there would be no sperm present. The woman’s autopsy report showed that she was strangled and suffered a cervical spine injury. The final diagnosis did not mention rape, but had indicated that she had tears in her genitals and had been “use of force”.
The state government said that after the woman’s death last week, a crime of murder was added under Section 302 and Section 376A (causing death after rape) of the Indian Penal Code against the four defendants. In the case.
“There has been ‘vicious propaganda’ on social media, certain sections of the media with some sections of political parties to deliberately mislead the public and create a caste / communal disharmony in the state.”
– Government of Uttar Pradesh
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