On Monday, the court questioned had the victim belonged to the rich family, would the police have treated the case any differently.
On Monday, the Allahabad high court in Uttar Pradesh brought up questions about financial and class divide, while examining the conduct of the police in the Hathras case. The UP police faced hug condemnation from across the country over the cremation of the victim in the dead of night. The 20-year-old Dalit victim had died after brutal torture and alleged gang rape, her family was allegedly kept locked in their house while Police cremated her body.
The call to cremate the body the same night was taken in view of the law and order situation, the district administration has claimed.
On Monday, the court questioned had the victim belonged to the rich family, would the police have treated the case any differently.
“The court asked the District Magistrate – ‘What if it was a girl from a rich family? Would you have cremated her the same way?” Seema Kushwaha, the counsel for the woman’s family, told NDTV.
Praveen Kumar, the district magistrate of Hathras, was among the officials summoned by the court, had accepted their role in the post-midnight cremation.
While taking suo-motu cognizance of the case on October 1, the court had said the case was of “immense public importance” as it involves allegations of “high-handedness by the state authorities, resulting in violation of basic human and fundamental rights not only of the deceased victim but also her family members”.
The court, according to sources, is trying to determine three issues – whether there was a violation of fundamental and human rights, whether the police followed Hindu rituals and whether it was done in a high handed and illegal manner. In the case of wrongdoing, punishment will be given.
The next hearing is slated for November 2.
“How do you know she wasn’t raped? Has the investigation concluded? Please go through the new rape law of 2013,” the court told senior police officer Prashant Kumar on Monday, NDTV reported.
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