The Hathras victim was cremated in the dead of the night near her home on September 30.
The Allahabad High Court will monitor all aspects including the CBI investigation into the alleged gang-rape and death of a Dalit girl from Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, the Supreme Court said today. The top court said that a request to transfer the trial out of UP "has been left open" until the investigation is completed. The top court was hearing a batch of petitions seeking a court-monitored probe into the case.
"So far as the transfer is concerned, it is appropriate for the investigating agency to complete the investigation," a bench headed by Chief Justice S A Bobde said.
The court observed that once the investigation is complete, the transfer of the case can be considered. "As of now, CBI is dealing with it and there is no cause of apprehension," it added.
The Supreme Court has directed paramilitary CRPF to takeover security of the victim's family and witnesses within a week. It has also directed the Allahabad High Court to delete the names of the family members from its October 12 order.
The top court, which passed the verdict on a batch of pleas that claimed that a fair trial was not possible in Uttar Pradesh as the probe has allegedly been botched up, also asked the CBI to file the status report in the case before the high court.
The bench, which also included Justice A S Bopanna and Justice V Ramasubramanian, also asked the Allahabad High Court to delete the victim's name from one of its orders on a PIL pending there.
A 20-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras on September 14. She later died due to her injuries at a hospital in Delhi. The victim was cremated near her home on September 30.
The police handling in the case -- particularly the late night cremation of the victim allegedly without the family's approval - led to angry protests across the country. The officials, however, said the cremation was done "as per the wishes of the family".
The post-mortem report of the victim has said that she suffered a fracture of "cervical vertebra". The police have claimed the forensic report has revealed that the woman was not raped.
With inputs from agencies