A 20-year-old girl was brutally tortured and gang-raped by four men in the Hathras district in Uttar Pradesh. On September 14, the girl with her family had gone to the field to collect grass. They were pretty far from each other in the field, when some men came and dragged her by clothes into the field.
After some time, the family members realised that she was missing. She was found severely injured and unconscious. The girl had suffered multiple fractures and her spinal cord was damaged. She was strangled to death by the perpetrators using her ‘chunni’. Her tongue was also severed in the assault.
She was shifted to Aligarh for better treatment, it was found that her legs were fully paralyzed and arms had little movement. After some days of treatment, she regained her consciousness and told the police about the incident. She was raped by three men, namely Sandeep, his uncle and their two friends. All the attackers are taken into custody by the police under the charge of murder, gang-rape and SC/ST Act.
Many influencers and Bollywood actors commented on the unfortunate death of the girl and demanded justice for her. The incident took place in Uttar Pradesh, which is ranked as the most unsafe place for women by the National Crime Records Bureau. In 2018, 3,78,277 crimes were recorded against women out of which 59,445 crimes took place in Uttar Pradesh.
It was two weeks after that she succumbed to her injuries in the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi. Protests broke out in front of the hospital and the police had to take her body away without the knowledge of her family.
She was taken to her village, at the midnight the police planned to complete the cremation of the girl. The family told the police that performing the last rites at night was not allowed in their tradition. But the police did not let the family see the for the last time and took her body away forcefully.
The police tried to stop the protesters and villagers blocking their way. They formed a human chain to keep them away. The girl’s body was cremated and none of her family members was present at that time.
However, a video had gone viral on the social media of the event. It could be seen that the police were in a hurry for the final rites of the girl and no one was allowed to go in the cremation ground. The family claimed that the final rites took place without their consent.
The police stated that the cremation was done with the permission of her family. The District Magistrate of Hathras said that they have videos that will prove the presence of family members on the cremation ground. The parents were not present but had consented for the cremation to take place.
The Uttar Pradesh police are accused of covering up the incident. Including the family of the victim, who said that the police, initially alleged that the girl was faking her injuries but later filed the case against rape charges.
Following the unfortunate incident, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath formed a three-member committee to look into the matter and the case has been put in the fast track court. The Chief Minister has assured that the perpetrators would receive severe punishments. Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India wants strict action to be taken against the guilty.
A similar incident had taken place in New Delhi in 2012, the Nirbhaya gang-rape case, a 23-year-old woman was brutally tortured and gang-raped in a moving bus by six people. four of the attackers were sentenced to death, the fifth attacker died in the police custody and the sixth perpetrator, a juvenile was sentenced to three-year imprisonment. In Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the Unnao rape case took momentum, when the MLA Sengar was accused of raping a 17-year-old girl. He was sentenced to life imprisonment by the court.
According to the National Crime Records Bureau, every two hours, a rape case is recorded in Uttar Pradesh. The state has the highest incidence of violent crimes, not only against women and accounts for 12.1% of crimes across the country. Now more than ever, it has become imperative for the government to take control of the situation in the state.