The Uttar Pradesh government filed a compliance affidavit in the Supreme Court on Wednesday regarding the Hathras case. The state government is committed to providing complete security to the victim›s family and the witnesses to ensure free and fair investigation, said the affidavit.
In the affidavit, the UP government requested the top court to keep the petition pending and allowing the investigation by the CBI to be conducted under the supervision of the Supreme Court in a time-bound manner. The UP government also sought a direction to the CBI to submit fortnightly status reports on the investigation to the state, which can be filed by the DGP of UP in court.
The Uttar Pradesh government also informed the court that the victim’s family have engaged Ms Seema Kushwaha and Mr Raj Ratan as their private advocates. However, the family have requested that the government advocate also pursue the case on their behalf, the affidavit mentioned.
“Government has also installed 8 CCTVs to ensure 24 hours surveillance/observation of the premises. The entire security staff deployed at the village has been strictly instructed to ensure that there is no intrusion in the privacy of the victim›s family/witnesses and that they are free to move and meet the people they want,” the affidavit further said. On 6 October, the Supreme Court had asked the UP government to file an affidavit detailing the witness protection efforts on ground regarding the case. The SC had also asked the state government to find out the scope of the Hathras rape case being dealt with by the Allahabad High Court and had said that it will deal with the issue to «make it wider and relevant». The court has listed the case for further hearing next week.
This comes after Satyama Dubey, Vishal Thakre and Rudra Pratap Yadav filed a writ petition before the Supreme Court seeking a CBI or Special Investigation Team (SIT), monitored by a sitting or retired Supreme Court or High Court judge, for the gruesome gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh›s Hathras district. The petitioners also sought the trial in the case to be transferred out of Uttar Pradesh to Delhi and for a direction from the apex court to ensure a speedy trial.
Grave injustice has been done with the victim and the system is silent on the issue, the plea said. The petitioners have also raised questions about the role played by police personnel in the case and alleged that police authorities did not perform their duties towards the victim and are trying to shield the accused for reasons best known to them. There was no arrest done in this matter and the accused persons are moving freely and they have no fear at all, the plea added.