On March 2, the SC/ST Court convicted one accused and acquitted three others in the Hathras rape-murder case. The Court convicted prime accused Sandeep Singh of culpable homicide not amounting to murder u/s 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) while acquitting Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi, the other three accused.
The case concerns the alleged gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district in September 2020. The accused are four upper-caste men named Sandeep, Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi, belonging to the Thakur community. The victim was allegedly gang-raped on September 14, 2020, and succumbed to her injuries at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on September 29, 2020.
On March 2, Special Judge Trilok Pal Singh pronounced the verdict acquitting Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi while convicting prime accused Sandeep Singh of culpable homicide not amounting to murder u/s 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and for offences under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The Court sentenced Sandeep Singh to life imprisonment with a fine of Rs. 50,000/-.
The Court said, “PW-33 Prof. Adarsh Kumar, Chairman MIMB also said that the team of MIMB has given a definite opinion regarding the death of the deceased that normally during Strangulation the victim dies within a few minutes,” and since the victim was talking for 8 days after the incident, it cannot be said that the accused intended to kill her.
The Court observed, “Therefore, on 22.09.2020, in front of PW-7 Sarla Devi and PW6 Naib Tehsildar Manish Kumar, the names of the four accused named by the victim, apart from the accused Sandeep, cannot be said to be credible among those who caused the incident and nor can the statement of the victim being raped be called credible because after taking the statement of the victim by Sarla Devi, the statement of the victim was taken by Naib Tehsildar Manish Kumar on the same day in the evening. The victim has not stated in this statement that she was raped.” The Court further stated that medical examinations do not show that the victim was raped.
However, after the verdict, the victim’s family said they would appeal against the Court’s decision before the High Court. According to a media report, the victim’s sister-in-law said, “We did not get justice. Giving punishment to only one accused will not serve us justice. Our name, respect and everything is gone.” She continued, “This verdict has murdered justice.”
While the victim’s brother said, “The verdict is according to our caste. Thakurs and Brahmins can do anything and they will still get away with it. We will not immerse her ashes until we get justice. All the four should be punished. We will go to the high court and even the Supreme Court.” The victim’s family said, “Children do not go to school. Who will give them security? We fear for the safety of our children.”
The accused’s representative, Advocate Hari Om, said, “Why did our boys need to spend time in jail for no fault of theirs? No one is at fault. This is all a conspiracy. Whatever the court’s decision, we believe that all four are innocent.”
While the victim’s representative, Advocate Seema Kushwaha, said, “The court did not look at the evidence properly. It was given with a biased mindset. The post mortem report shows injuries. The post mortem was done 15 days after the incident, so why is the court not taking note of the healed injuries after 15 days? How can you say there was no evidence of rape when healed injuries are there?”
She continued, “The court has said that the victim did not name all four accused in the first statement, but their names were given to the police in a written letter on September 16. How can you expect a detailed statement from a girl who was severely injured and not fully conscious?” She added, “The victim’s dying declaration is there and the statement to the CO is there. The CBI itself has said that the police were negligent in investigation. The court should have taken all this into account.”
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