Hathras gang rape and murder: UP court acquits three accused, convicts one

A special court in Uttar Pradesh Court on Thursday acquitted three persons and convicted one in the Hathras rape and murder case of a 19-year-old Dalit girl. .Accused Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi were acquitted while accused Sandeep was convicted for the offence of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and for offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.The victim was gang-raped in Hathras on September 14, 2020 and the accused also 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..With respect to forced cremation and gang-rape, the Allahabad High Court had taken suo motu cognisance 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 had filed the charge-sheet against all four accused men in December 2020, itself. 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.