Political pressure on the Uttar Pradesh government continued on Friday over its handling of the Hathras gang rape and the rushed late night cremation of the victim.
In a late evening development, the State government suspended Hathras Superintendent of Police Vikrant Vir and four other officials for negligence over the incident. The action was taken on the basis of the first report submitted by the Special Investigation Team, said Awanish Awasthi, Additional Chief Secretary (Home).
With the Hathras administration continuing to bar the entry of outsiders, the situation at the victim’s village of Bulgaddhi remained tense. A delegation of Trinamool Congress MPs, which tried to reach the village to meet the victim’s family, was manhandled and Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien pushed to the ground by the police about 1.5 km from the village. Later in the day, more leaders from Congress, Aam Admi Party and Peace Party of India were turned back by the district administration.
The Trinamool leaders, including Lok Sabha MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar and Pratima Mondal and former MP Mamata Thakur, apart from Mr. O’Brien, said they had travelled individually to the village to ensure that Section 144 imposed in the area is not violated.
The police refused to let even the women MPs go and meet the victim’s family, despite repeated requests. When Ms. Mondal tried to walk towards the victim’s house, she was blocked by SDM Prem Prakash Meena.
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This led to a tussle between Mr. Meena and Mr. O’ Brien, in which the MP was pushed down. The delegation later staged a dharna around a kilometre away from the victim's home.
“We are here on a peaceful mission to pay condolences to the grieving family. Lady MP was manhandled by U.P. SDM,” Mr O’ Brien tweeted.
The scuffle with the administration came a day after Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were arrested on the Yamuna Expressway by the Uttar Pradesh police and prevented from entering Hathras.
CM’s assurance
Breaking his silence on the gangrape, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said forces who even harbour ill thoughts against the honour and self-respect of mothers and sisters in the State would be completely annihilated.
In a tweet in Hindi on Friday, Mr Adityanath promised a punishment that will become an example for the future. He said the U.P. government was bound by oath to protect “mothers and sisters” in the State.
The Chief Minister’s tweets came after he interacted with the father of the victim on Wednesday via video conferencing and promised him ₹25 lakh as compensation and a job for a family member.
Fear in village
A young boy who described himself as the brother of the victim and claimed he had escaped the police cordon on the pretext of collecting fodder, told media persons at the barricades, that there was an atmosphere of fear in the village. “Everybody has been asked to remain inside and the police were instilling fear among villagers. The mobile phones of many villagers have been collected by the policemen,” the boy said.
The young boy who identified himself as Gajendra alleged that the policemen were colluding with the accused.
As the day progressed, members of the All India Kshatriya Mahasabha gathered outside the village and threatened to hold a panchayat supporting the four men accused of the gangrape and brutal assault on the Dalit girl.
A day after a video of him threatening the family went viral on Thursday, district magistrate Praveen Kumar Laxkar remained inaccessible to media persons on Friday. Some media persons tried to take alternative routes to enter the village but they were stopped and sent back. Sources said the mobiles of the villagers were collected after one of them recorded the DM’s conversation with the family and leaked it to the media.
Later in the day, Prakash Kumar, Assistant Superintendent of Police, told reporters that the entry of politicians and media persons was banned because the Special investigation Team’s was in the village. "We have inputs that some people want to spoil the law and order situation in the village. These restrictions will continue till the situation improves and the SIT completes its job," he said.
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Officers suspended
According to the U.P, government release, apart from the SP, Circle officer Ram Shabd, inspector Dinesh Kumar Verma, SI Jagveer Singh and head constable Mahesh Pal have also been suspended. Mr. Verma was the SHO of the Chandpa police station at the time of the gruesome incident. The release added that the members of the victim’s family and the police officials will have to undergo polygraph and narco tests.
