Hathras gangrape-murder case: Uttar Pradesh court acquits 3, holds 1 guilty under SC/ST Act, Section 304 IPC

A special court in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday acquitted three persons and convicted one for their alleged involvement in the gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl.

The court acquitted Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi, while convicting Sandeep under Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant Sections of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. 

On September 14, 2020, four men from the upper caste allegedly gangraped a 19-year-old girl in Hathras and even attempted to kill her. The victim told police in her statement that she was dragged by her dupatta into the fields from a spot where she had been cutting grass with her mother and brother. 

The girl suffered multiple fractures and a gash in her tongue. On September 29, she succumbed to her injuries at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.

When her mortal remains were taken to her native place, the UP Police and administration allegedly cremated her body forcefully without the family’s consent or their presence, in the dead of the night.

On October 1, 2020, the Allahabad High Court took suo motu cognisance of the gangrape and murder, stating that the incidents which took place after the death of the victim on September 29, 2020 leading up to her cremation, as alleged, had shocked the conscience of the judges.

On October 10, the High Court transferred the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

CBI filed a charge sheet against all four accused in December 2020.

This was followed by a batch of petitions in the Supreme Court seeking independent or court-monitored probe and witness protection, among other reliefs.