Hathras Rape Case: UP Police have been accused of being slow to react to the complaint
Highlights
- Yogi Adityanath government had recommended a CBI probe last week
- UP government has come under sharp criticism for its handling of the case
- Many have compared the case to 2012 gang rape in the national capital
The CBI has registered a case against an accused in connection with the alleged gang rape and murder of a 20-year-old Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras last month. The FIR, filed at police station in UP's Ghaziabad lists rape, attempt to murder and gang rape as the offences, according to news agency ANI.
Registered by request of the UP government and on "further notification from the Government of India", the case complainant - one of the young woman's brothers - has alleged that on September 14 the accused tried to strangle his sister in a millet field.
The agency was handed the case last week by under-pressure Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. It took over the case from UP Police yesterday.
The young woman was allegedly gang raped and assaulted by four "upper caste" men from her village. She died at a Delhi hospital two weeks later from injuries sustained in a savage attack that many have compared to the 2012 gang rape in the national capital - a crime that triggered nationwide protests and calls for stricter laws to prevent crimes against women.
The incident led to an avalanche of criticism directed at the UP government and police force.
A large part of that criticism has been about the government's handling of the case, including its treatment of the young woman's traumatised family - whom they allegedly locked up in their home while they hastily cremated their daughter at night.
The government has also been accused of covering up the crime blamed on "upper caste" Thakurs.
Hathras: UP Police have been criticised for their investigation of the case
The police, meanwhile, have been accused of a slow response to the complaint.
They have also been criticised for claiming that no rape had occurred; the cops pointed to forensic report that said no semen had been found, but experts have said there was little chance of semen being recovered since the samples were taken 11 days after the attack.
According to a reminder of existing laws that was issued by the Home Ministry yesterday, a medical examination (in sexual assault cases) must be conducted within 24 hours of receipt of information.
They have since filed 19 FIRs but none are against the accused. Instead, they are against "unknown people" for a conspiracy to defame the state government.
The focus on women's safety in Uttar Pradesh has been further highlighted by a number of similarly brutal crimes reported in the days after the Hathras incident.
According to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau last month, India recorded an average of 87 rape cases every day last year - a rise of over seven per cent from 2018 and increase from the year before (2017) as well.
With input from ANI