The body of a 19-year-old Dalit woman, who died in a Delhi hospital two weeks after she had been allegedly gang-raped on September 14, was cremated near her home in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras in the dead of the night early on September 30. Her family alleged that they had been forced by local police to conduct the last rites.
The brutal incident has sparked protests and anguish in several parts of the country with political leaders and activists slamming the UP government over the horrific incident and the manner in which the funeral was conducted.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has constituted a three-member SIT to probe the case and asked that the trial be conducted in a fast track court.
Here is how the case has unfolded so far:
> The 19-year-old young woman was allegedly gang-raped by four men in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district in September. The woman had gone to the fields with her mother on September 14 and went missing soon after, said Hathras Superintendent of Police Vikrant Vir. The teenager was later found brutally injured, with her tongue having a serious cut as she bit it while the accused attempted to strangulate her, according to the officer.
> The victim was admitted to the AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh. A spokesman of the hospital said that the woman's legs had been completely paralysed and arms partially paralysed. On September 28, she was shifted to AIIMS, Delhi after her condition showed no signs of improvement.
>The victim died at the Delhi hospital on September 29. She died around 3 am, Vikrant Vir, Superintendent of Police - Hathras, said.
> The Hathras SP said they initially came to know that Sandip (20) had tried to kill her, following which he was arrested on the same day. Later, in her statement to the magistrate, the victim said that not only Sandip but Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi had also raped her. When she resisted their attempts, they tried to strangulate her, leading to the cut in the tongue, she said.
The four accused who have already been arrested will now also face charges under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, according to the Hathras SP.
> The Hathras district administration has announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the family of the Dalit woman. The compensation was announced by Hathras district magistrate shortly after she had died in Delhi.
> The postmortem of the woman was conducted in presence of police personnel, sources said. Earlier on September 29, the woman's father and cousin sat on a dharna outside the hospital. They were joined by Bhim Army and Congress workers before the body was taken to Uttar Pradesh.
> Members of the Delhi Mahila Congress staged a protest at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi on September 29, demanding justice for the Hathras gang-rape victim, who died at a hospital this morning, following which they were detained by police.
> Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the Hathras gangrape incident, Congress questioned the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and women leaders of his party and alleged that Uttar Pradesh under the Yogi Adityanath government has become the country's "crime capital".
> The woman was cremated in Hathras in the early hours of September 30, with her family alleging the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of the night.
> UP CM Adityanath has constituted a three-member SIT to probe the Hathras gang-rape incident. A senior government official said the chief minister has also asked for conducting the trial of the case in a fast track court. The SIT has been asked to submit its report in seven-day time, the official said.
> Around 60 Left activists were detained when they tried to stage a protest outside the Uttar Pradesh Bhawan in the national capital against the gang-rape incident, police said. The protesters arrived at the UP Bhawan for the protest, but were detained immediately and taken to Mandir Marg police station, they said.
> The chief minister spoke to the father of the woman and assured him of stringent action against all the accused, on September 30.
> A plea was moved in the Supreme Court on September 30seeking directions for handing over to the CBI or a Special Investigation Team the case of the brutal gang-rape.
> Calling for exercising patience over the Hathras gang-rape incident, BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya has said under the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, a "vehicle can overturn anytime".
(With inputs from PTI)
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