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Hathras Victim’s Cremation by the Police: There was Threat to Law and Order, UP Govt tells SC

The Hathras gang rape-murder victim Cremation late in the night without any family member nearby.

According to the intelligence inputs, lakhs of people from the communities of both the victim and the accused along with political workers would assemble at her village, which could lead to a major law and order problem. The Uttar Pradesh Government told the Supreme Court.

The state government also requested the apex court to direct for a CBI investigation into the case, claiming that vested interests were attempting to ascribe motives to vitiate a fair investigation.

“There cannot be any bad intention on part of anyone to expedite the Hathras gang rape-murder victim cremation, except to obviate the potentially violent situation resulting from a caste divide planned (on the issue) by certain vested interests.” The state emphasized.

On Tuesday a team headed by Chief Justice SA Bobde was scheduled to hear PIL for a CBI or SIT investigation into the Hathras case. The matter was likely to be taken up after 12 pm.

Even before the state’s affidavit was filed in the court, even before it could take up the matter and seek a response from it.

The state justified the cremation of the victim, who died on September 29 at the hospital in Delhi. At 2:30 am. On September 30 at 2.30 am there was a possibility that the protesters could have turned violent.

“There was a high alert in the district due to the pronouncement of the Babri Masjid demolition case verdict too,” was also stated in the government affidavit.

It is being said that since September 29 morning several intelligence inputs were being received by the Hathras district administration. On the manner in which a dharna was held at the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi and that “the whole issue was being exploited and caste and communal color were being given to it”.

“In such extraordinary and severe circumstances, the district administration decided to convince her parents to cremate the body with all religious rites in the night to avoid large-scale violence in the morning… the body of the victim was lying for more than 20 hours after her death and post-mortem,” was added to the Affidavit.

On September 29 the body of the 19-year-old victim was allegedly taken away by the Uttar Pradesh Police from the Delhi hospital and drove the victim’s body to her village Bulgaria in Hathras. The victim’s family requested the officials to allow them to take the body home one last time and they even tried to stop the ambulance carrying the body. However, the family alleged, they were locked in their home during the funeral procession.

 

source: with input from ians