The mother of the 19-year-old Dalit woman, who was allegedly gangraped in Hathras, was shifted to a hospital today after her health took a turn for worse. The family had returned to their home earlier in the day, after being present for the Hathras gangrape case's hearing by the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. Reportedly, the late survivor's father was also unwell but had declined being taken to hospital.
According to ANI, Hathras chief medical officer Dr Brijesh Rathore paid a visit to the survivor's home after the late Dalit woman's father refused to be taken to a hospital.
After registering a case on Sunday, a Central Bureau Investigations team visited the deceased survivor's village today and also inspected the incident site. According to a TOI report, the CBI officials will also be collecting medical reports related to the gangrape survivor as a part of their investigation.
Hathras case moved Court
On October 12, Hathras survivor's family appeared before the Allahabad HC. The Lucknow bench questioned the police officers about the survivor's hurried cremation and why was it carried out in the middle of the night.
Her family had earlier alleged that UP police had “forcibly” cremated her body. A week after the allegation, the UP government said in the affidavit that the Hathras woman was cremated at 2.30 am “to avoid large-scale violence” the next morning.
'What if it was a rich girl'
“Would you have burnt the body if the victim was from a well-to-do family?” the bench comprising of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Rajan Roy, said. "The court asked the District Magistrate - 'What if it was a girl from a rich family? Would you have cremated her the same way?" Seema Kushwaha, the counsel for the woman's family, told NDTV.
Meanwhile, District Magistrate Praveen Kumar, who was summoned by the court, had accepted responsibility for the midnight cremation. “In his statement, Hathras District Magistrate Praveen Kumar Laxkar told the court that they had inputs about a huge law and order problem the next morning, following which they took the decision to carry out the cremation. The District Magistrate denied having sought any direction from Lucknow or got any guidance from Lucknow in the decision regarding the cremation. He told the court that the decision was taken (by officials) locally, including him,” said senior advocate Jaideep Narain Mathur.
Also Read: Delhi, Hathras And Now Balrampur: India Continues To Be In Denial Of It’s Rape Culture
While appearing in front of the bench the survivor's family demanded that the case be moved outside of UP. According to Kushwaha, "The family wants the case to be transferred to Delhi or Mumbai," PTI reported.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gangraped by four upper-caste men on September 14. She died while undergoing treatment in Delhi on September 29. Following her death, the family claimed that UP police had "forcibly" cremated her body, which led to an outrage on social media.
The next court hearing in the case is on November 2.
Feature Image Credit: PTI
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