Hathras Case: Victim's Family Members To Appear Before HC On Monday

The family members of the 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. The court on October 1 had asked the woman's parents to apprise it of their version of the incident and had also ordered the Hathras district administration to arrange for their travel.

"The district judge, who has been appointed as the nodal officer in the case, is in touch with the court as to when the case will be listed. The family will move accordingly. The family is in Hathras as of now," Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Jaiswal said on Sunday.

Sixty security personnel have been deployed and eight close circuit television (CCTV) cameras have been installed at the victim’s house, to ensure safety of the victim's family members, the police said. Hathras SP has said that a register of visitors is being maintained by policemen deployed at the entrance of the victim’s house.

"Shocked" by the alleged gang-rape and murder of the 19-year-old Dalit woman, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on October 1 had summoned top government officials to the court. A division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Jaspreet Singh had ordered the Uttar Pradesh additional chief secretary, state police chief and an additional director general of police to appear before it on October 12 to explain the incident. Taking suo motu cognisance of the case, which has triggered widespread outrage, the bench also ordered Hathras district magistrate and superintendent of police to appear before it, to apprise the court of various details of the case, including the status of the ongoing probe.

"The incidents which took place after the death of the victim on September 29, leading up to her cremation, have shocked our conscience. Therefore, we are taking suo moto cognisance of the same," the bench had said in its order. The Supreme Court on Saturday handed over the investigation of the case, to the CBI.