Hathras case: UP court sentences sole convict Sandeep to life imprisonment

Sandeep, the sole convict in the Hathras case in which a 19-year-old Dalit girl was killed, was sentenced to life imprisonment by a special court in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday..The Court also imposed a fine of ₹50,000 on Sandeep. Earlier today, the Court had acquitted three other accused in the case, Ramu, Lavkush, and Ravi. Sandeep, meanwhile, was convicted for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and for offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act..The victim was gang-raped in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh on September 14, 2020 and the accused had also allegedly attempted to kill her. Thereafter, on September 29, she succumbed to her injuries at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital..When her mortal remains were taken to her native place, the UP Police and administration allegedly cremated her body forcefully without the family's consent or their presence, in the dead of the night..The Allahabad High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the alleged forced cremation and gang-rape of the victim on October 1, 2020."The incidents which took place after the death of the victim on 29.09.2020 leading up to her cremation, as alleged, have shocked our conscience, therefore, we are taking suo moto cognizance of the same," the High Court had noted.On October 10, the case was transferred to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Allahabad High Court.Subsequently, the CBI filed the charge-sheet against all four accused men in December 2020.A plethora of public interest litigations were also filed before the Supreme Court during that time, largely seeking independent, monitored probe and witness protection, among other reliefs.