Video Emerges Of Hathras Woman Attesting To Being Raped Amid Denial By UP Police

We reported earlier today that Uttar Pradesh ADG of police Prashant Kumar has denied all charges of rape being involved in the Hathras case, which had a 19-year old Dalit woman gangraped by four upper-caste men on September 14, following which she succumbed to her injuries on September 29 at a Delhi hospital. Kumar claimed in a public statement today that the woman died due to a neck injury and not because of rape, saying that the survivor’s earlier statement only mentioned “maar-peet” (beating) and made no claims of rape. However, a video has emerged of the deceased woman, while she was at hospital, attesting to being raped.

The clip of the survivor's statement has been released by news channel Aaj Tak. In the video, she is in a critical condition, owing to the brutalisation resulting from said rape, conversing with the reporter questioning her. The conversation is in Hindi, translated by us in English. The reporter asks her, "You got raped the day you got these injuries?" She replies, "Yes." He goes on to ask about her state during the event and she says she "had some consciousness" during that time. He asks her a second time if she was raped, and she confirms once more with a "yes".

Here is the original clip with the statement by the woman and attached below is ADG Kumar's statement from today:

हे ईश्वर😢हे ईश्वर😢🙏 https://t.co/j7ZUZXDDd8 pic.twitter.com/ZvLfWEIjo9

— Dr Kumar Vishvas (@DrKumarVishwas) October 1, 2020

UP Cop Gives Statement Denying Rape

According to a quote by PTI, Kumar had alleged, “Forensic report makes clear the woman was not raped.” ANI further quoted him saying, “Postmortem report says victim died due to her neck injury. FSL report hasn’t found sperm in samples, making it clear that some ppl twisted the matter to stir caste-based tension.”

However, experts have pointed out that autopsies of women brutalised by rape don’t always show the presence of semen, especially if reports were collected days after the incident. The Hathras gangrape happened on September 14 as our report suggests and the autopsy report is dated September 29 as per NDTV, which has led some to raise doubts on Kumar’s claim.

The woman’s medical report states “rape and strangulation” and says that she suffered from a cervical spinal injury. Despite all attempts to revive her through CPR, she was declared dead at 8:55 am on September 29, the report says.

Anger Towards UP Police’s Handling Of Hathras Case

Kumar’s comments come in the midst of mounting rage directed at the UP Police’s handling of the Hathras gangrape case. The deceased’s family has alleged that the body was “forcibly” taken from them and cremated without their consent. The Hathras District Magistrate has denied the allegations saying, “The allegations that funeral was conducted without family’s consent are wrong. The father & brother gave their consent to conduct funeral at night. Family members were also present at funeral. Vehicle carrying victim’s body was present at village from 12:45 to 2:30am.”

The National Human Rights Commission has also issued notices to the Uttar Pradesh government and the state’s police chief regarding the Hathras case. They said, “It is apparent that the police was not able to take timely action to trace and save the victim girl due to which the young woman could not be saved from being subjected to grave cruelty… The DGP ( Director General Police) of Uttar Pradesh is expected to look personally into the matter to ensure a speedy trial so that the culprits could be punished by the competent court without any further delay.”