An SC/ST court in Hathras on Thursday acquitted three out of four accused persons, and convicted one person for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, in the case involving the rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl. It was alleged that four youths belonging to a dominant caste group from the same Boolgarhi village gang-raped the girl before trying to kill her.
The convicted Sandeep Sisodia was sentenced to life imprisonment by the court after founding him guilty under Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code, Sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and fined ₹50,000. The other accused — Ramu, Lav Kush and Ravi — were acquitted by the special court due to lack of evidence.
Also read: Hathras gang rape | A long caste feud, a horrific crime, and a sudden cremation
The victim’s family is likely to approach the Allahabad High Court against the verdict. “No murder or rape charges are framed on the accused, others set free. We will move our appeal on the lower court’s verdict at the Allahabad High Court,” Mahipal Singh, the lawyer representing the victim’s family, said outside the Hathras court.
The 19-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and succumbed to her injuries two weeks later on September 29 at the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi. It was alleged that the body was cremated without the family’s consent or their presence, in the dead of night. The Uttar Pradesh administration’s high-handedness in the handling of the incident led to a massive uproar with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reaching the victim’s village to meet the family.
The Allahabad High Court took suo motu cognisance of the matter, remarking that the crime had shocked its conscience. Following sustained protests, the U.P. government transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation. The Central agency charged all the four accused with gang-rape and murder.
The CBI, in its charge-sheet filed in December 2020, found fault in the U.P. Police’s investigation and said, “Though the victim alleged molestation, her medical examination regarding sexual assault was not conducted.”
