Hathras gang rape case | CBI quizzes victim’s father, brother

The elder brother was taken to the temporary office, created in the office of Deputy Director, Agriculture, Hathras, on Tuesday as well. He told reporters later that he was not interrogated and was only made to sit and sign on the list of evidence collected from the village on Tuesday

Hathras: Police personnel stand guard as CBI officials (unseen) investigate the case of a 19-year-old Dalit woman who died after being allegedly gang-raped, in Hathras, Tuesday, Oct. 13, 2020. (PTI Photo)(PTI13-10-2020_000190B)

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team probing the gangrape and murder of a Dalit girl in Boolgarhi, Hathras, summoned her two brothers and father to its camp office on Wednesday and questioned them for around seven hours.

The elder brother was taken to the temporary office, created in the office of Deputy Director, Agriculture, Hathras, on Tuesday as well. He told reporters later that he was not interrogated and was only made to sit and sign on the list of evidence collected from the village on Tuesday. He said the evidence included soil from the scene of the crime, ashes and pieces of bones that the family collected from the cremation spot, the slippers of the victim and the cane that the family collected from the site of the cremation.

It could help the investigation agency find out what material was used to cremate the victim.

Interestingly, the cane was still with the family. Brahm Singh, the investigating officer (IO) before the SIT took over the case, said they collected whatever they could find. “You should remember, I was not the first IO in the case,” he said, referring to Ram Shabd who was suspended after the preliminary report of the SIT.

It was Mr. Singh who recorded the statement of the victim at the J.N. Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh and added the sections on gang rape to the FIR.

Child raped

Meanwhile, a four-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a relative in the Sasni area of Hathras district on Tuesday, police said.

Ruchi Gupta, Circle Officer, Hathras, told reporters that the accused is the cousin of the victim and had been arrested under the relevant sections of the IPC.

The survivor’s uncle said she was playing outside her home in Gopalpur village when the relative took her to his house. “When we started searching for her, he himself brought her home. We became suspicious because she was bleeding.”

The family took the girl to the Community Health Centre. She was referred to the district hospital, where doctors confirmed rape.