Lucknow:
An FIR filed by Uttar Pradesh police lists sedition, an “international conspiracy” and promotion of religious hatred among the 19 charges related to the Hathras case, in which they have been facing criticism for alleged lapses. The police case came 24 hours after UP Prime Minister Yogi Adityanath claimed that those who were upset by the progress of his state were using the Hathras incident to conspire against him.
The charges listed in the FIR or First Information Report are sedition, conspiracy, incitement to caste division, religious discrimination, tampering with electronic evidence, conspiracy against the state, and defamation.
The charges imply that the administration believes there is more to the case involving the horrific assault and alleged gang rape of a young Dalit, who died last week.
“There is a deep conspiracy in Hathras, we will investigate the truth,” said a high-ranking police officer.
With opposition politicians visiting the woman’s family, UP police have also brought cases of violation of distancing and other safety rules for Covid.
Yogi Adityanath had recently warned BJP workers about “conspiracies against their government” and an attempt to incite religious and caste unrest. “Those who do not like development want to incite caste and communal disturbances in the country and state and want to stop development,” the Chief Minister had said.
The Yogi Adityanath government and UP police have faced condemnation for handling the Hathras horror.
The woman was assaulted by four upper caste men in her village on September 14 and left with horrific injuries including fractures, a spinal injury, paralysis and a cut to her tongue. UP police, accused of a slow response to the woman’s complaint, have alleged that there was no rape or gang rape.
Yogi Adityanath’s administration has been accused of trying to cover up the crime. After the woman’s death, the UP police took her body and forcibly cremated it, refusing to hand it over to her family.
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