Video Producer: Shohini Bose
Video Editor: Purnendu Pritam
The body of the 19-year-old Dalit woman who was raped and murdered, allegedly by four upper caste men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, was allegedly ‘forcibly cremated’ by the Uttar Pradesh Police in the wee hours on Wednesday, 30 September.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has formed a three-member SIT to probe into the alleged rape and has asked for a report in seven days. Hours after the cremation, protests broke out in the district, with people marching on the streets demanding justice for the victim.
While her body reached her village in Hathras in an ambulance, 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.
The Hathras Police, at 2:16 am, tweeted that the cremation will be done “as per the wishes of the family.” Superintendent of Police (SP) Vikrant Veer denied any “urgency” by police in cremation to news agency PTI.
“The allegations that funeral was conducted without family's consent are wrong. The father and brother gave their consent to conduct funeral at night. Family members were also present at funeral. Vehicle carrying victim's body was present at village from 12:45 to 2:30 am,” the Hathras District Magistrate told ANI.
Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission of India (NHRC) has issued a notice to the chief secretary and DGP of Government of Uttar Pradesh over the incident, ANI reported on Wednesday.
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.
(With inputs from Vivek Mishra, ANI, PTI, Indian Express)
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