Dalit woman rape, murder in India: Family wants trial moved out of state
The family members of a 19-year-old Dalit woman who died after being brutally assaulted and allegedly raped by four upper caste men in Hathras district of India's Uttar Pradesh, has told the Allahabad High Court that they want the trial in the case to be moved out of the state.
They also alleged that the victim was cremated without their consent, reports our New Delhi correspondent.
Hathras District Magistrate, Praveen Kumar Laxar and Superintendent of Police, Vineet Jaiswal told the Lucknow bench of the high court yesterday that the decision to cremate the victim's body was taken by local administration and police.
There were no instructions or pressure from the state government regarding this, they claimed.
They also added that it was done keeping in mind the law and order situation at the time.
The victim's parents, her two brothers and sister-in-law appeared before the high court, which has taken a suo moto cognizance of the incident, and their statements were taken.
Hathras is about 200km from Delhi.
The woman was allegedly raped by four men on September 14. She succumbed to severe injuries at a hospital in New Delhi a fortnight later, which was followed by a hushed-up cremation at night allegedly forced by the district administration. The incidents have sparked a nationwide outrage in India.
The high court on October 1 had asked the victim's parents to apprise it of their version of the incident and had also ordered the Hathras district administration to arrange for their travel to the court and facilitate their appearance before it.
A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Jaspreet Singh had on October 1 said "the incidents which took place after the death of the victim on September 29, 2020, leading up to her cremation, as alleged, have shocked our conscience."
Senior advocate J N Mathur, who was appointed amicus curie by the high court, contended before the high court yesterday, that every citizen has the right to be cremated with dignity as per their religious practices.
The victim's family counsel Seema Kushwaha urged the court to shift the trial to Delhi.
Kushwaha said the victim's family sought security and did not want the report of the investigation so far to be made public.
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