The local officials in Hathras might face the heat of the recent rape and murder of a Dalit girl as not just the sleuths of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took up the probe but the Allahabad High Court on Monday also took strong cognisance of the statement of the victim’s kin and questioned the manner in which the cremation took place in a hurry.
The High Court asked the officials that if the victim had been their kin or the kin of some influential person, would they have gone ahead with midnight cremation?
The High Court might also transfer the trial out of Uttar Pradesh as the family claimed to have no faith on the local agencies and apprehended that to save the “culprits”, those in power could tamper with the evidence.
It may be mentioned that in the Unnao rape case involving then BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar also, not only the trial was transferred to New Delhi but the CBI had also recommended action against the then district police chief and district magistrate of Unnao for not taking the matter seriously. However, no action has been taken against any officials by the present government and sources said that the government was not satisfied with the CBI findings.
Sources said that in the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court, the victim’s family members accused the district authorities of cremating the body of their daughter without their presence or consent at midnight.
Hathras District Magistrate Parveen Kumar Laxar, who was present in the court along with all senior officers, including Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi, DGP HC Awasthi and others, has owned full responsibility for the decision related to the cremation of the 19-year-old victim in the night.
Laxar pleaded the girl was cremated in the dead of the night because they had received intelligence inputs that some vested interests could try to provoke caste violence. He also said that there was a possibility the body would decompose if the cremation was delayed further. He denied that there was any pressure on him from the government or higher officials.
Seema Kushwaha, counsel for the victim’s family, said that the family wanted the case to be transferred out of Uttar Pradesh. She said that the security of the family was a major concern because the family had already been receiving threats from various groups supporting the accused. She said that security should not be turned into a joke.
Seema Kushwaha also urged the court that information about the investigation should be kept private so that the family’s privacy was not compromised. She alleged that an effort was being made to alter the narrative in the case by disclosing information related to call detail records and other information.
The family, while deposing before the court, maintained that the cremation of the victim was done against their wishes and they were not allowed to attend the last rites.
The mother of the victim said that they were not even sure if the body which was cremated was of their daughter because they were not allowed to see her face for the last time.
The victim’s family narrated in detail the entire sequence of events leading to the “forced cremation” of the victim. They accused the Hathras police of not registering their FIR and ensuring proper medical aid to the victim. They said that the local police had been harassing them and the district magistrate had been mounting pressure on them. They said they had no confidence in the administration.
After the family recorded their statements in court, the Hathras district magistrate gave his version.
Government counsel, Additional Advocate General VK Shahi, refused to comment on the proceedings saying that the matter was sub judice.
A division bench of the court comprising Justices Ranjan Roy and Pankaj Mittal fixed the next date of hearing on November 2 and is likely to give some strong directives