On Monday, the family of 19-year-old Hathras gangrape and murder case victim and the officials involved in the case appeared before the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. The court has fixed November 2 as the next date of hearing.
The court criticized the manner of how the victim was cremated in the dead of night and under 5 hours when her body was handed over after she was declared broad dead. 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 victim's family.
Parveen Kumar Laxar, the Hathras district magistrate has owned full responsibility for the decision related to holding the cremation of the 19-year-old victim in the night. He also added that cremation had been done in the dead of the night because they had received intelligence inputs that some vested interests could try to provoke caste violence.
Court slams administration over violation of rights of Hathras victim’s family: Key points
- The division bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Rajan Roy heard the victim's family and also government officials during the two-hour hearing.
- The victim's family appealed to the court to shift the case either to Delhi or Mumbai.
- In support of shifting the case outside the Uttar Pradesh, Seema Kushwaha said that the security of the family is a major concern because the family had already been receiving threats from various groups supporting the accused.
- The family also accused the local police of harassing them and the district magistrate had been mounting pressure on them.
- While concluding, the family maintained that the cremation of the victim was held against their wishes and neither were they allowed to attend the last rites.
