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In September 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh. After her death, the victim was forcibly cremated by the police without the consent of her family, a claim denied by the police.
A local court in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday acquitted three accused in the Hathras gang rape and murder case. However, the main accused has been convicted of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Section 304 IPC) and offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Out of the four accused namely Sandeep Thakur, Ravi, Luv Kush and Ramu, only Sandeep Thakur has been held guilty in the matter. The other three have been cleared of all charges. Noticeably, no accused has been found guilty of committing gang rape.
The matter came to the limelight in September 2020 after the allegedly forceful cremation of the gang rape victim At 2 Am by Uttar Pradesh Police and administration instead of handing her body to the family.
The victim was allegedly gang-raped and attempts had also been made to kill her. A few days later, the victim succumbed to her injuries at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.
The case was trasferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The matter also reached the high court when the Allahabad High Court, in October 2020, took suo moto cognizance of the issue and a PIL was registered pertaining to deceased's right to decent & dignified last rights/cremation.
After the incident, the State Government made an announcement of Rs. 25 Lakhs to be given to the deceased girl's family. However, the high court examined the issue of all four reliefs- basic pension, employment to one family member, provision of agricultural land, and a house to the deceased victim’s family as per the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules,1995.
Conclusively, on July 26, 2022, the high court directed the State Government to consider employment of one of the family members of the deceased victim and regarding the relocation of the family, Court directed the State to consider it too and take a decision within 6 months.
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