Hathras incident: Story so far

Hathras, a small district of Uttar Pradesh having an area of 142 square kilometres has been on the 'boil' after the alleged gang rape of a Dalit woman reported last month. The incident has garnered widespread criticism for the ruling government and has been covered by all news organisations. The brutal incident though has reported a new twist every day, ETV Bharat covered all developments of the story so far.

Lucknow: The victim of the alleged gang rape, who was brutally thrashed and left seriously injured by the accused in Hathras, succumbed to her injuries on September 29 during treatment at New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital. Her death led to nationwide outrage against the perpetrators of the heinous crime. People took out candle marches from place to another, seeking justice for the victim. Meanwhile, politics over the issue also hot up. Leaders of all parties and hues started thronging Hathras. Presently, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has handed over the investigation of Hathras case to the Special Investigation Team (SIT). The SIT was to submit the report last Wednesday itself, but the SIT has been given 10 more days to investigate and submit the report.

CM formed SIT on Sept 30

It is worth stating here that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath formed the SIT under the chairmanship of Home Secretary, Bhagwan Swaroop, on September 30 to investigate the Hathras case. DIG Chandra Prakash and IPS officer Poonam were other members of the SIT. They were asked to complete the investigation within seven days. Since October 1, the SIT has been camping in Hathras. The SIT members are meeting the victim’s family members, accused persons, police and district officials and local people as well. Their statements are also being recorded.

Key developments in the case so far

September 14, 2020: A case of alleged gang rape of a 19-year-old Dalit woman came to light. There were also talks of assaulting the victim brutally. It was said that after the incident, the accused broke the spinal cord of the victim and also chopped off her tongue. The victim was first admitted to JN Medical College, Aligarh.

September 19: Police added sections related to eve-teasing in the FIR.

September 22: Based on the victim’s statement, the section of rape was added to the FIR.

September 28: At Aligarh’s Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, the family members expressed their desire to take the victim to AIIMS, New Delhi, when her condition worsened in the night.

September 29: In the morning, the victim was referred to Delhi. She was admitted to Safdarjung Hospital instead of AIIMS. She died during treatment.

September 29/30: The body of the victim was cremated on the intervening night of September 29-30. The victim’s family alleged that the police forcibly cremated the body by using petrol. However, the police claimed that the funeral was done with the consent of the victim’s family.

October 1: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi leave for Hathras to meet the victim’s family. However, the UP Police stopped them on the expressway. There was ruckus throughout the day. A case was filed against hundreds of people including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in this regard. After this, outsiders including media persons were banned from going to the village of the victim. Section 144 was imposed in Hathras. Police forces were posted after sealing the border.

October 1: The Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court took the matter seriously. Taking cognizance of the incident of Hathras, Additional Chief Secretary Home, DGP, ADG Law and Order, DM Hathras and SP Hathras were ordered to appear before the court on October 12.

October 2: Taking action in the case, the Yogi Government suspended five police officers including Hathras SP Vikrant Veer, and Circle Officer (CO) with immediate effect. Vineet Jaiswal, SP of Shamli, was made the new SP of Hathras.

October 3: After getting permission to visit Hathras, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi reach the village to meet the victim’s family. Both of them interacted with the victim’s family members in the closed room for an hour. On the instruction of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Avnish Awasthi and DGP Hitesh Chandra Awasthi left for Hathras and met the victim’s family. Chief Minister Yogi also recommended the case to be investigated by the CBI.

October 5: AAP MP Sanjay Singh was going to Hathras to meet the victim’s family. A youth threw ink on Sanjay Singh. The police arrested the youth.

October 6: The Supreme Court heard the Hathras case. The apex court told the lawyers that this is a terrible incident and we do not want to repeat the arguments in the court. The court sought detailed information by Thursday about the steps taken for the protection of witnesses related to the alleged gang rape of the Dalit girl in Hathras and the subsequent death of her in the hospital. The apex court gave this instruction during the hearing on a PIL. During the hearing, the Uttar Pradesh government expressed its desire to hand over the entire case to the CBI for investigation, claiming that fake talks are being made about the case for political purposes.

The UP government also told the Supreme Court that the last rites of the victim were done in the night because there was an intelligence report that a large number of people belonging to the communities of the victim and the accused were about to gather in her village along with political activists. In such a situation, a big problem would have arisen with regard to law and order.

Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale reached Hathras on October 6. During this, he met the victim’s family and gathered information about the incident and announced a grant of Rs 5 lakh as assistance from his party to the victim’s family.

October 7: The SIT was to submit its investigation report, but Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath gave the SIT another 10 days to complete the report. It was, meanwhile, revealed on October 7 that more than Rs 100 crore had been arranged in the Hathras case out of which Rs 50 crore had been received from Mauritius. It was said the funding has been done from Mauritius through a website.

October 8: An accused in the Hathras incident wrote a letter to the Superintendent of Police demanding justice. He claimed to have friendship with her family and he has been falsely implicated in the case. He writes the letter demanding that the entire case be investigated and justice is done. In the letter, the accused also confessed to being a friend of the girl. He said that the family did not like us and his friendship with the girl, which led to a fight in her house.

Akhilesh Yadav on Hathras incident

Former UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said that the public will be satisfied only when a sitting judge of the Supreme Court conducts a fair probe into the Hathras incident. An FIR will also be registered against the officers suspended in the Hathras gang rape and murder case.

The BJP government has made Uttar Pradesh a ‘Rape State.’ He said the Samajwadi Party is committed to waging a war of justice to ensure that all daughters and sisters, who have been raped including the daughter of Hathras, get justice. Now the countrymen have to come together to protect their daughters.

The character of both the BJP and the RSS is questionable. There is a huge difference between their words and actions.

Rahul Gandhi on Hathras incident

Police want to bury the truth. The state government is not giving justice to the victim and the accused are not being arrested. This is being done under a well-thought-out conspiracy, which we completely oppose. We stand with the aggrieved family.

Priyanka Gandhi on Hathras incident

Targeting Yogi Government, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi tweeted. She wrote, “According to the aggrieved family of Hathras, the behaviour of the DM was the worst. Who is protecting them? He should be dismissed without delay and his role should be investigated in the entire matter. The family is seeking a judicial inquiry. Then why the SIT investigation is going while creating the noise of the CBI investigation. If the UP government is awake, then it should listen to the family.

Priyanka Gandhi said: “The incident took place on September 14 and the Chief Minister is giving a statement on September 30. The girl was subjected to a heinous crime, a grim tragedy! His statement came after 15 days. Now the CM says in the statement that the Prime Minister received a call. The SIT has been formed to investigate this. Did you wait for the Prime Minister’s call? Could you do anything for 15 days? You did not treat this girl. Did not take the victim to a good hospital. How did you treat her family that the body of the daughter could not be taken to her house for the last time? Her father could not cremate his father. He was locked in a room. This type of behaviour is the biggest example of inhumanity. How inhuman your government is. What is happening in Uttar Pradesh and you are not taking responsibility? What kind of Chief Minister are you?”

Mayawati on the incident

BSP supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati tweeted on the incident of Hathras. She said the opposition was accused of plotting to incite ethnic and communal riots to disturb the State’s development under the cover of Hathras incident. Whether the charge of the UP government is correct or it is the election ploy, this time will tell. Public opinion demands that it will be better if the government focuses on ensuring justice to the victim of the Hathras incident. There is a need for the government to make serious efforts to get justice done to the victim of Hathras incident.

What does CM Yogi say?

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has come down heavily on the opposition over the Hathras gang rape case. He said that those who do politics on the corpse of the poor can never be friendly to the poor. These people have never liked the poor since independence. Poor remained their vote bank and poverty alleviation their slogan! Even today, their mentality remains the same. So these people are not refraining from doing politics on the corpse of the poor. Such faces are being exposed. The government will recognize each one and will deal with them very strictly as per the law.

Maurya accuses RaGa

Uttar Pradesh Cabinet Minister Swami Prasad Maurya, while referring to Hathras incident, said that an audio-video has come out, which proves that Rahul Gandhi was plotting to spread a riot in Uttar Pradesh in the garb of Hathras incident. We strongly condemn this. Our government is with the victim’s family. We want them to get justice. Therefore, our government is also trying its best. Strict action will be taken against the culprits. No one is going to be spared.”