Hathras case: UP Police registers 19 FIRs against protesters
LUCKNOW: In the latest development in the Hathras Rape case, the Uttar Pradesh Police on Sunday registered 19 FIRs against unknown persons for inciting caste-based violence and spreading fake news. In the aftermath of the alleged gang rape and torture in Hathras of a young woman who died last week.
Facing criticism over its handling of the case, the police have alleged an attempt to disturb peace in the state and listed sedition, conspiracy and promoting religious hatred in the main FIR or First Information Report filed in Hathras.
The charges listed in the main FIR include inciting caste divides, religious discrimination, doctoring electronic evidence, a conspiracy against the state and defamation.
The charges tie in with the administration’s assertion that there is more to the case involving the fatal assault on the young Dalit woman. “There is a deep conspiracy in Hathras, we will investigate the truth,” senior police officer Prashant Kumar said.
The FIR has been registered under sections 505 (1) (c) (Inciting any class or community of persons to commit any offence against any other class or community), 153A (Promoting enmity between different groups), 420 (Cheating), 465 (Forgery), 500 (Defamation), and 505 (1) (b) (Causing fear or alarm to the public) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Meanwhile, CM Adityanath, while chairing a virtual meeting with division, sector and booth-level BJP workers, accused the Opposition parties of attempting to stoke communal violence in the state. He remarked: “People, who do not like the progress done by the BJP, are trying to incite caste-based and communal tensions.”
Earlier in the day, the three-member special investigation team, probing the Hathras case, recorded the statements of the Dalit victim’s family members at their house. A medical team also visited the house to check on the victim’s father after he complained of sickness.
Based on the preliminary report submitted by the SIT, the CM had on Friday suspended five police officials including the Hathras SP and DSP for mishandling the case.
The 19-year-old Dalit girl from Hathras died at Safdarjung hospital in Delhi on September 29 after she was allegedly gang-raped and assaulted by four “upper caste” men. Later, the Hathras Police allegedly forcibly cremated her body in the dead of the night, leading outrage across the nation and protests in some parts.
With opposition politicians visiting the woman’s family, the UP police has also filed cases for violation of distancing and other safety rules for Covid. Yogi Adityanath’s government and the UP police have been facing widespread condemnation over the handling of the Hathras horror.
The 20-year-old woman was assaulted by four upper caste men at her village on September 14 and left with horrific wounds including fractures, a spinal injury that left her paralysed and a gash in her tongue.
The UP police, accused of a slow response to the woman’s complaint, has alleged that there was no rape or gang rape involved and that a forensic report proves it. That claim has been questioned by experts who point out that the samples were taken 11 days after the woman was attacked.
Yogi Adityanath’s administration has also been accused of trying to cover up the crime blamed on upper caste Thakurs. After the woman’s death, the UP police took away her body and forcibly cremated it at 2.30 am, refusing to hand it over to her family.
Meanwhile, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh was attacked with ink in Hathras on Monday who was visiting the village to meet the the 20-year-old victim’s family. In a video of the incident, an unidentified man is seen to raise slogans while throwing the ink at Singh, who was then rushed to the safety of his vehicle. The attacker was overpowered on the spot.
The Congress on Monday staged a silent protest in the district headquarters of states across the country to demand justice for the Hathras woman who was allegedly gang raped and killed by four upper caste men last week.
An FIR has been registered Bhim Army chief Chandrashekar Azad and 400 others for violating Section 144 of CrPC and the Epidemic Diseases Act by visiting the village on Sunday. Azad demanded a time bound inquiry by a retired judge of the Supreme Court into the Hathras incident and also sought protection for the family.
An FIR was also registered against over 500 Congress workers for their protest at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Noida last week. According to the FIR lodged a little earlier before midnight on October 3.
The Congress workers have been booked under IPC sections 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant), 269 (unlawfully or negligently spreading infection of any disease dangerous to life), 270 (malignant act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and under section 3 of the Epidemic Diseases Act.
While,Noida Police has started a probe into the manhandling of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi when she and her party members were briefly stopped from crossing the DND Flyover on their way to Hathras on Saturday.
As their car was stopped and party workers gathered around, the police pushed back a few of them and also hit some with batons. As Priyanka got out of her car and tried to shield a few workers, a police officer pushed her and grabbed her kurta during the incident.
“Noida Police profoundly regrets the incident with Priyanka Gandhi while handling an unruly crowd at the DND. The DCP HQ has taken suo motu cognizance of it and ordered an inquiry to be conducted by a senior woman officer.
(Bureau Report with agency Inputs).
