Centre issues notification for CBI probe in Hathras case

NEW DELHI: The Central government has issued a notification for the CBI to take over probe into the alleged gang-rape and death of a 19-yearold woman in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Saturday.

The notification has been marked to a suitable branch of the premier agency, and probe teams will be dispatched to the crime scene along with forensic experts immediately after the registration of an FIR, they said.

The Dalit woman had died of grievous injuries at a Delhi hospital on September 29, a fortnight after she was allegedly raped at her village by four upper caste men. Besides the alleged gang-rape case, the Uttar Pradesh government has sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the FIR related to the alleged criminal conspiracy to spread caste conflict, instigating violence, incidents of vicious propaganda by sections of media and political interests, they said.

Under searing criticism over the incident and pulled up by the Allahabad High Court, the Yogi Adityanath government had recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) last week even though the ruling BJP dismissed the protests as “political stunts”. A large part of the criticism goes to the UP government’s handling of the case, including its treatment of the young woman’s traumatised family, whom they allegedly locked up in their home to hastily cremate their daughter at night.

HATHRAS: Family members of a 19-year-old Dalit woman who died after allegedly being raped by four men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district will appear before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court amid tight security on Monday.

Hathras Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal said that the district judge of Hathras has been appointed as the nodal officer for the appearance of the Hathras victim’s family member before the high court. The police and district administration are working on an elaborate plan in this regard as to how many family members will go and when they will depart from Hathras.

“The Hathras Police will be responsible for their security and a detailed plan is being made,” Jaiswal said.

Sixty security personnel have been deployed and eight CCTV cameras installed at the house of the alleged gangrape victim in her village in Bulgarhi area here to ensure the safety of her family members, according to police.