Hathras Survivor Was Cremated At Night 'To Avoid Large-Scale Violence', Says UP Govt

The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court on the Hathras gangrape case. A 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gangraped by four men on September 14 and she passed away on September 29 in Delhi, where she was undergoing treatment. Her death sparked nationwide outrage. Her family alleged that UP police “forcibly” cremated her body. A week after the allegation, the UP government said in the affidavit that the Hathras woman was cremated at 2.30 am "to avoid large-scale violence" the next morning. They also cited it had intelligence inputs of "major law and order problems".

Uttar Pradesh government files affidavit in Supreme Court over #Hathras incident, saying the court must direct CBI investigation into the case for free and fair investigation.

SC should monitor the CBI probe into the case, the affidavit states.

— ANI (@ANI) October 6, 2020

Reportedly, the UP government also justified why the woman was cremated in the middle of the night. It claimed that there was a high alert in the district because of the Babri mosque verdict a day later. "The district administration at Hathras had been receiving several intelligence inputs since the morning of September 29 on the manner in which the dharna had taken place at Safdarjung hospital and the whole issue was being exploited and a caste/communal colour was being given," said the state.

Reacting to the news, Gargi Rawat, a journalist, tweeted that it is not a valid reasoning. She called it a "very wishy washy explanation."

So lock up the parents, brother and cremate body at 2:30am? Could have mobilised police to prevent this ''violence'' and allowed cremation in the early hours.
Very wishy washy explanation #Hathras https://t.co/2xnJPUoWB6

— Gargi Rawat (@GargiRawat) October 6, 2020

The state also emphasised that they had received specific inputs that lakhs of protesters "of both communities/castes" along with supporters of political parties will gather in the district. They were also alerted about the media presence at the village, "which is likely to turn violent and will lead to major law and order problems."

Journalist and author Shekhar Gupta tweeted:

May be Yogi Govt is right & Hathras is a global conspiracy to defame UP. In which case, key conspirators must be his cops who burnt the body past midnight, kept family out. And the ‘genius’ DM who not only intimidated the family but also got caught on camera doing so..

— Shekhar Gupta (@ShekharGupta) October 5, 2020

What did the UP government affidavit say

"CBI probe in Hathras case will ensure no vested interests will be able to create fake, false narrative with oblique motives," the affidavit said.

There was also an alert because of the Babri mosque verdict and coronavirus safety rules, said the affidavit. "In such extraordinary and severe circumstances, the district administration took the decision to convince the parents of the deceased to cremate her with all religious rites at night to avoid large scale violence in the morning to cremate the body of the victim that was lying for almost more than 20 hours after her death and post-mortem," said the UP government.

Also Read: Delhi, Hathras And Now Balrampur: India Continues To Be In Denial Of It’s Rape Culture

Meanwhile, in an FIR filed by the Uttar Pradesh police, a sub-inspector alleged, "Unruly elements offered Rs 50 lakh to the family of the woman to speak untruths against the government."

An unknown "journalist tried to coax victim's brother to record the bite of parents saying they were not satisfied with the UP government," it says without taking any specific names.

Feature Image Credit: NDTV

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