Hathras Case: Family does not want CBI enquiry, SIT records statement

Hathras : One day after CM Yogi Adityanath asked CBI to take over the Hathras gangrape case, SIT went ahead and recorded the statements of the family members of a 19-year-old Dalit woman, who was in the allegedly gang-raped and murdered in the state's Hathras district.

The SIT team led by senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Bhagwan Swaroop; the victim's family, however, is not in favour of the CBI investigation and wants a judicial probe to be conducted in the case, which has sparked outrage and protests in the country.

The woman was raped by four "upper caste" men on September 14 following which she was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College of Aligarh Muslim University after she was left partially paralysed. She was later shifted to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi where she died on Tuesday.

The whole matter became controversial when UP Police officials cremated her body in the late night against the wish of her family members. “We lied down in front of the ambulance but were removed and the cremation was forcefully performed at night,” one of her relatives said on Saturday.

The Opposition has been demanding resignation of CM Yogi Adityanath over the incident. Adityanath, however, has assured the harshest punishment for the culprits. "For the purpose of intensive investigation of the unfortunate incident of Hathras and all the points connected @UPGovt The case is being recommended through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). We are determined to bring the harshest punishment to all those responsible for this incident," he wrote on Twitter.