Hathras rape case: Yesterday five policemen, including the Superintendent of Police, were suspended.
Lucnkow, Uttar Pradesh:
Uttar Pradesh Police Director General HC Awasthy will visit Hathras today amid controversy over the local administration’s handling of the alleged gang rape and murder of a 20-year-old Dalit woman, by four men from the so-called upper caste. , last month. HC Awasthy, the UP DGP, will be accompanied by the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi.
The visit, the first by such high-ranking officials, comes as a wave of criticism is directed at the Yogi Adityanath government for the Hathras tragedy and equally horrific crimes against women.
The visit also comes a day after an angry Allahabad High Court summoned senior officials, though only on October 12. The court said the matter was of “immense public importance … it involves an accusation of arrogance by the authorities that resulted in a violation of basic human and fundamental rights.”
Yesterday, five police officers, including the Police Superintendent, were suspended from the Hathras district as the BJP government in the state tries to quell the coming barrage of criticism. The chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, said his government was “committed to the safety of women.”
However, the family of the young woman from Hathras have reported multiple lapses by the police and the government throughout the case. Police also sparked outrage after rushing to cremate the body at 2:30 a.m., after allegedly locking the family in their homes.
They have also accused district officials of locking them in their homes and taking away their phones. However, Hathras Joint Magistrate Prem Prakash Meena dismissed those allegations today, telling NDTV: “The allegations of a child who spoke to some reporters on Friday are unfounded. If a child can escape, it shows that there were no restrictions for the family. No phones were confiscated. “
The police have also been criticized for mistreating opposition leaders who seek to speak to the young woman’s family. Earlier this week, both Congressman Rahul Gandhi and Derek O’Brien from the Trinamool Congress were pushed to the ground by UP police officers as they tried to reach Hathras.
Gandhi is scheduled to make another attempt this afternoon, but police have already set up a barricade along the road connecting Delhi to Noida in UP. Meena further said that only journalists were allowed to visit the village at this time and that Gandhi would not be allowed to enter.
The 20-year-old woman, who died Tuesday at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital, suffered fractures, paralysis and a spinal injury after a savage assault by four men from the so-called upper castes. Police said he had a cut on his tongue; she had bitten him while they were strangling her.
The assault has been compared to the 2012 gang rape in Delhi.
Angry protests against the police and government have taken place across the country, including one in the national capital Delhi on Friday where Prime Minister Arvind Kejriwal appeared and demanded that the four defendants be executed. .
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