Hathras case: CBI charges four accused for gang rape, murder

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday filed a chargesheet against four accused in the alleged gang rape and murder case in Hahtras in September this year. The CBI charged Ravi, Sandeep, Luv Kush and Rahul for gang rape, rape and murder. Filed in the court of special judge BD Bharti, the chargesheet also included charges under provisions of SC/ST Act.
The court has fixed January 4 as the next date of hearing.The Lucknow bench of the high court which is monitoring the probe will take up the matter on January 27.
The UP government had recommended a CBI probe in the case on October 2 following a nationwide outcry over post-midnight cremation of the girl by the local administration after she died at a Delhi hospital on September 29. The girl was allegedly gang raped and attacked on September 14 at her village in Hathras.
The CBI had registered this FIR on the basis of the first FIR lodged in the case at Chandpa police station on September 14 for attempt to murder and under SC/ST Act against one Sandeep. The complainant in the case was the victim's brother. He had stated in the FIR that on September 14, Sandeep had tried to rape and strangulate his sister while she was working in the fields. But she raised an alarm at which his mother reached the spot and Sandeep fled.
She was rushed to an Aligarh hospital after her condition deteriorated. In another statement at Aligarh hospital on September 22, the girl named three more youths of her village and accused them of raping her.
The counsel for the accused, Munna Singh Pundir, said that the dying statement of the victim on September 22, in which she had claimed that she was gangraped and named four youths of the village, was the basis of the CBI chargesheet. All the named youths were arrested by the local police by September 26.
The 2,000-page chargesheet also includes separate reports of the four accused who had undergone brain electrical oscillation signature (BEOS) test and polygraph test at Gujarat Forensic Science University (FSU) in Gandhinagar, last month. The CBI sources said that analysis by central forensic experts of the post-mortem reports of the victim girl was also done before arriving at the conclusions.
The victim's brother, who had reached the court under the CRPF protection, expressed satisfaction over the chargesheet. “We have achieved success at the first step but the battle is yet not over. It will only be over after the four accused get punishment in the case,” he told reporters.
He also said that the truth had unfolded. The sister-in-law of the girl said that they wanted the DM Hathras to be removed. That was their only demand now, she said
In a press statement on Friday, however, the CBI said: "The public is reminded that the above findings are based on the investigation done by the CBI and evidence collected by it. Under the Indian Law, the accused are presumed to be innocent till their guilt is finally established after a fair trial."
The CBI charhesheet confirming gangrape comes after the local and the state police had gone on record to say that that no rape or gangrape had taken place, citing a report by the Agra Forensic Science Laboratory.
The case hit the headlines after the family of the victim alleged that she was hastily cremated by the local administration after midnight without their consent. After a nationwide rage, the government formed an SIT to probe the case and suspended four cops, including the district police chief and finally handed the case to the CBI.
The Allahabd high court took suo motu cognizance of the cremation of the girl without the family's presence. Hearing a PIL, the Supreme Court also asked the Allahabad high court to monitor the case.
The CBI investigating officer in the case is DSP of the Anti-Corruption Branch, Ghaziabad, Seema Pahuja.