Wednesday, 14 October 2020 | PNS | New Delhi
A CBI team on Tuesday visited the crime spot in Hathras where a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gangraped on September 14 and later succumbed to the physical assault.
After reaching the area, the agency team called the victim’s brother to identify the place and directed the local police to cordon off the crime scene. The move comes nearly a month after the woman was allegedly raped and assaulted by four men of the village.
A team of forensic experts from the Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL) is expected to carry out a detailed crime scene recreation soon, officials said.
The victim had succumbed to her injuries at a hospital here on September 29 following which the District Magistrate reportedly ordered cremation of the body against the wishes of the family in the dead of the night which aggravated the furore over the crime incident and the handling of the issue by the local administration.
The Uttar Pradesh Government referred the case to the CBI for investigation. The protests snowballed into a political storm with Congress, Aam Admi Party, Trinamool Congress and other Opposition leaders of the State from the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal staging massive protests.
The Uttar Pradesh Police had registered a case of attempt to murder on a statement by the victim’s brother who, as per the FIR at Chandpa police station, had stated that the accused tried to strangulate his sister in a millet field and escaped when she raised an alarm.
A notification issued by the Centre at the behest of the State Government directed the CBI to probe, rape, murder and atrocity and “any attempt, abetment and/or conspiracy, in relation to or in connection with such offence(s) and/or for any other offence committed in the course of the same transaction or arising out of the same facts”.
“The complainant had alleged that on September 14, 2020 the accused tried to strangulate his sister in the millet field. The case has been registered by CBI on the request of the Uttar Pradesh Government and further notification from Government of India,” the CBI had said in a statement after registration of the FIR on Sunday.
