UP Police Protect The Rapists And Cremate The Victim's Body Secretly

The 19-year-old woman, whose death in a Delhi hospital two weeks after she was brutally gangraped sparked protests and anguish, was cremated near her home in Hathras in the dead of the night early Wednesday with her family alleging they were forced by local police to conduct the last rites.

“The cremation was done around 2.30-3 in the morning,” her father told PTI, a day after the young woman, grievously injured when she was allegedly gangraped by four upper caste men, gave up the battle for life.

As political leaders and activists voiced their protest on social media and other platforms over the manner in which the funeral was conducted, local police said it was carried out as per the wishes of the family.

In the moments preceding the cremation, the Dalit teen’s brother told PTI, “Police have forcibly taken the body and my father along with them for cremation. When my father reached Hathras (from New Delhi), he was immediately taken (to the crematorium) by the police.”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and said strict action should be taken against the culprits, the Chief Minister’s Office said on Twitter.

The chief minister also constituted a three-member SIT to probe the case and asked that the trial be conducted in a fast track court. The SIT has been asked to submit its report in seven days, an official said.

Recalling the horrors of the Nirbhaya case, the Dalit teen was allegedly sexually attacked by four men on September 14 and referred on Monday to the Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi with spinal injuries, paralysis and cuts in her tongue. She died around 3 am on Tuesday.

The men alleged to be involved in the crime are under arrest and will now face charges under Section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, according to the Hathras Superintendent of Police Vikrant Vir.

Women’s rights activists condemn

Women’s rights activists added their voice to the chorus of condemnation and said the teen was robbed of dignity even in death.

“When the family found her and she was taken to the police station, the police said she is trying to trap people and then she was hospitalised and not kept in a ICU for six days and then on her death the police blamed the victim’s family and they are denying this Dalit family and victim dignity even in death and mourning,” said Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association,

Yogita Bhayana, who heads the group People Against Rape in India (PARI), described the incident as something human rights violation”.

“It is the newest low. Even in the Nirbhaya case there was nothing like this... They can only do this to a Dalit family..they knew the caste would not retaliate so they did this,” she said.

Rights activist Shamina Shafiq pointed out that Hindu rituals do not allow for cremations after sunset.

She, too, made comparisons with the Nirbhaya case and said the prime minister Manmohan Singh and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi went to the airport to receive her body when it came from Singapore. She was also airlifted to Singapore so her life could be saved.

"When this (Hathras) girl was gangraped why was she not airlifted to AIIMS. These people do not care about giving respect to women...,” she said.

NCW seeks explanation

The National Commission for Women said it will seek an explanation from the UP Police.

“In UP Gang-Rape Tragedy, 2.30 am Cremation By Cops, Family was Kept Out. @NCWIndia condemn it strongly. Why the family wasn’t allowed in Cremation? Why at night?@Uppolice @hathraspolice,” said NCW chief Rekha Sharma tweeted.

As the outrage grew, associates of Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad and its Delhi unit head Himanshu Balmiki alleged that the two have been missing since 10 pm on Tuesday and had been detained by UP Police while they were on their way to Hathras, accompanying the family.

Amid outrage in the country over the gang rape and death of a young woman in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, another similar case has been reported from the state. A little more than 500 km from Hathras, a 22-year-old Dalit woman died after being allegedly raped and assaulted on Tuesday evening, when the attention of the country was focused on the events in Delhi as the police tried to take away the Hathras woman's body from Safdarjung hospital.

The young woman in Balrampur had died while being taken to a hospital in Lucknow. The police, meanwhile, have said that two accused in the case have been arrested, but also claimed that the post-mortem has not revealed injuries to the woman. The police has not spoken officially on whether rape has been confirmed by a medical examination.

"A complaint was filed by the brother that two accused in the case, Shahid and Sahil, raped the woman and then, when her condition became serious, they sent her home on a rickshaw. The relatives says she died on the way to hospital. The police have registered a case of murder and gang rape and both accused have been arrested and are being jailed. Some media channels are running that her hands, feet and waist was broken but there is no mention of this in the post mortem," senior police officer Dev Ranjan Verma said.

The woman's mother said she was abducted in the morning while on way to secure a college admission. When she failed to return in time, the family launched a search for the woman. 

he family says she returned around 7 pm, and that the assailants had allegedly put her on an e-rickshaw and sent her home, sources said.

"The men had injected her with some substance due to which she lost consciousness. Then they raped her... They broke her legs, they broke her back. A rickshaw-wallah brought her home. They was thrown in front of our house. My child could barely stand or speak," the woman's mother said, weeping.

"Somehow, crying, my daughter said, 'Save me, I do not want to die'," the mother said.

he added that soon after her return, her daughter complained of a burning pain in her stomach.

"The doctor at the local hospital said her condition is serious and advised that she be taken to Lucknow. But she died when we were near Balrampur town," she added.

The police handed over her body to her relatives who cremated her on Wednesday.

The police, however, said the autopsy does not reveal that her hands and legs were broken. "In the said case, prompt action has been taken by the police with both the accused arrested.  Details that hands and legs were broke is not true The post-mortem report does not mention this," Balrampur Police tweeted late last night.

The police, citing the woman's family, said there were marks on her hand for injecting glucose. "Her hands had a glucose syringe sticking out. She appeared to be in a very bad condition," officer Dev Ranjan Verma said.

"The family has named two persons. They said they took her to a doctor to get her treated and raped her. When her condition got worse, they sent her home instead of sending her to hospital. The police has taken swift action and arrested the two named. We will ensure swift action," the officer said.

In a video tweeted by the Balrampur Police this morning, the District Magistrate, the top police officer of the district and local leaders are seen meeting with the  family of the woman. They handed over ₹ 6.18 lakh to the family as "compensation".

"The family members were assured that the accused will be given a strict punishment in accordance with law. A letter sanctioning a financial assistance of ₹ 6,18,450 was handed over to them by the mahant (of a famous local temple). The amount will be sent to the victim's mother's bank account by the afternoon," a statement issued said.

The Hathras woman, who was also a member of the Scheduled Castes, was attacked on September 14 when she had gone to cut grass for fodder. Her assailants had left her in the in the fields half strangled, bearing multiple fractures, tongue gashed, naked, bleeding and paralysed.

Her body was cremated by the Uttar Pradesh police in the middle of the night. Her family was kept locked up and not given a chance to bring her home for the last time and give her last rites.

The state has been under huge criticism and public anger is growing over issue.