That Wasn’t Our Girl’s Body, Conduct NARCO Test on DM and SP Who Kept Lying: Hathras Victim’s Family

The family of Hathras rape victim on Saturday accused the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating the case of being “hand in glove” with the accused and demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe.

The mother of the 19-year-old woman, who died at New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday, said the police did not hand over her daughter’s body after her death. She demanded an investigation monitored by a Supreme Court Judge and said the family doesn’t trust SIT or CBI.

“These people didn’t let me see the body of my girl even after I kept begging for it. We don’t want the CBI enquiry either. We want that the investigation of the case be conducted under a Supreme Court Judge. Why should we go for a NARCO test, we never changed our statement,” she said.

After restricting entry for more than two days, Hathras district administration finally allowed the media to enter the victim’s village on Saturday morning.

Speaking to media, the victim’s sister-in-law said, “First of all, police should clarify whose body was cremated that night. It wasn’t our girl’s body, we didn’t see it. Why should we undergo the Narco test? We are telling the truth, we are seeking justice. The DM and SP should undergo the Narco test. It is they who have been lying.”

Refuting reports that the deceased’s grandfather was present when her body was cremated, her sister-in-law said, “The grandfather of the girl died in 2006. How can anyone claim that he was present during the cremation?”

“Nobody from the SIT visited our house yesterday. They came day before yesterday and were here from around 9 am till 2:30pm. The district magistrate has been continuously saying, ‘what if the girl had died from coronavirus?’ We were stopped from going outside in order to stop us from interacting with media. Why was body of our girl not showed to us? We don’t trust SIT as they are hand in gloves with the administration.”

Speaking on the alleged tapes of family’s conversations with a political leader, she said, “No one from our family spoke to any political leader. I don’t think politicians’ visits here will do us any good. We want justice for our girl.”

The 19-year-old woman died at Safdarjung Hospital on Tuesday, over two weeks after four men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras allegedly raped and assaulted her, leaving her legs fully and arms partially paralysed.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday suspended Hathras Superintendent of Police and four other policemen for alleged dereliction of duty in the events that led to the woman’s death, followed by a hasty cremation at night in the absence of her family. Opposition parties have demanded the suspension of Hathras District Magistrate.

There were speculations of District Magistrate Praveen Kumar Laxkar being suspended after official was he was caught on camera issuing a veiled “threat” to the rape victim’s father as he asked him to comply with the government.

Those suspended include SP Hathras Vikrant Veer, Circle officer Ram Shabd, Inspector Dinesh Kumar Verma, Sub-Inspector Jagveer Singh and head constable Mahesh Pal. They were suspended on the basis of a preliminary investigation conducted by the state government.