Protesters Hit Streets, Demand Justice for Hathras Rape Victim

Visuals of protests in Hathras following the rape and death of the 19-year-old Dalit girl.

(Photo Courtesy: Quint Hindi/Vivek Mishra)

Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Rahul Sanpui

Protests, led by Dalit groups, erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras on Wednesday, 30 September, a day after 19-year-old woman who was allegedly gang-raped by four men succumbed to death.

Visuals from the protests showed that a large group of people, predominantly men, marched the streets of Hathras, demanding justice for the victim.

(Photo Courtesy: Quint Hindi/Vivek Mishra)

Uttar Pradesh police have been deployed across the district due to the ongoing protests.

The 19-year-old passed away at Delhi’s Safdarjung hospital on Tuesday, 29 September. She was battling for life, first in Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh and later in Delhi, for almost two weeks.

She was allegedly raped by four men on 14 September, while she was working in the fields.

(Photo Courtesy: Quint Hindi/Vivek Mishra)

‘Her Body Cremated Without Informing Us’: Family Alleged

While her body reached her village in Hathras in an ambulance in the wee hours of 30 September, the victim’s family stated that the police had forcibly took her body and performed last rites, even when they wanted wanted to bring her home “one last time.”

“It appears that my sister has been cremated; the police are not telling us anything. We begged them to let us bring her body inside the house one last time, but they didn’t listen to us,” the victim’s brother told The Indian Express.

Videos on social media showed the victim’s mother pleading with police officials to let her take the body home.

(With inputs from Vivek Mishra)