UP Police Cremate Hathras Gangrape Victim At Midnight Against Family's Wishes

The Hathras Police which was already facing allegations of a cover up in the probe of the gang rape of a 19-year-old Dalit girl has courted more controversy and outrage.

This after it emerged that the Hathras Police performed the cremation of the victim's body at her village against the will of her family.

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The family alleged on Wednesday that the police were forcibly trying to get her body cremated in the middle of the night.

Family pleased but to no avail

The family had reportedly pleaded with the cops to let them take her body to their house one last time and that cremation of bodies at night was against their traditions.

But the cops did not pay heed to any of these and at around 2:30 in the night, they performed the girl's last rites, after allegedly locking up the family inside their house.

Reports who were at the spot were also not allowed to witness the cremation as the cops formed a human chain to keep them away.

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¡°The police have forcibly taken the dead body, and my father along with them for cremation. When my father reached Hathras, he was immediately taken (to the crematorium) by the police,¡± a brother of the woman told PTI.

Another relative said that the woman's father was accompanied by 30 to 40 people, chiefly relatives, and others from their neighbourhood had gone to the crematorium near Bool Garhi village, under Chandpa police station limits, in the district in western UP.

We are unable to understand, what they want... what kind of politics is this, they are giving random statements like the woman has not been raped! We don't know what they want,¡± said the relative who was home with the grieving family.

They are doing all this to hush up the case,¡± he alleged.

The body of Hathras gangrape survivor put to flames in absence of family members. This was allegedly done against the wishes of the family. One simple question: What right does police have to dictate terms of cremation? pic.twitter.com/oSsmiEXrp8

¡ª Piyush Rai (@Benarasiyaa) September 30, 2020

Police claim everything done as per family's will

Despite the family saying that the cremation was performed against their wishes, everything was done as per the family's will.

Senior police and administration officials were also present at the crematorium in the middle of the night, an official said.

Superintendent of Police (SP) Vikrant Veer denied any 'urgency' by the police in holding the cremation at night even though cremations do not normally take place after sunset.

He added that the cremation was done by the family as usual after the body reached Boolgarhi village. The SP claimed that the situation is calm in the village, but heavy police force has been deployed.

This appears to be the latest attempt by the UP police to cover up the heinous crime.

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Earlier, Piyush Mordia, Inspector General (IG) Aligarh had said that the medical examination of the victim's body did not confirm rape.

"On September 14, the victim's brother filed a complaint in which he said that a man strangled and tried to murder his sister. The victim was then shifted to a hospital. She in her statement said that the man had also harassed her and made no other allegations."

"On September 22, the victim named three other persons and made allegations of rape. The medical examination did not confirm rape. Samples have been sent to forensics lab and a report awaited. All four accused have been arrested," Mordia said on Tuesday.

This is not the first time the cops have been accused of a cover up in the cases. Rape charges were added against the accused only on September 24, ten days after the crime was committed.

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The station house officer of Chandpa police station where the case was registered has been transferred to the district police lines amid allegation of going slow on the probe.

Some local media have also reported that an outfit named Savarna Parishad has come out in support of the four accused, who are all upper-caste men.