
Reethu Ravi
Reethu, a story teller, a person often found between the pages of a book or contemplating the nuances of life.
Image Credits: Anuja Jaiswal/Twitter, Anuja Jaiswal/Twitter
On the wee hours of Wednesday, September 30, the Uttar Pradesh police 'forcibly' performed the last rites of a 19-year-old Dalit woman who was gang-raped and tortured in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras allegedly by four upper-caste men. The family alleged that even though they wanted to bring her body home, the police forcibly cremated her body.
"It appears that my sister has been cremated; the police are not telling us anything. We begged them to let us bring her body inside the house one last time, but they didn't listen to us," the woman's brother told The Indian Express.
Two weeks after she was attacked, the woman had died at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on Tuesday. Her body had reached her village in Hathras around midnight.
Around 3 AM, photos and videos from the village surfaced online, which showed a lone pyre, without any family members near it. Reports stated that the police allegedly barricaded the victim's family inside their home and burnt the body.
The police also refused entry to media to the area. To keep reporters, the victim's family and the villagers away, the police also formed a human chain and only cops were present to perform the victim's last rites, NDTV reported.
#Hathras police forms a human chain to keep media away from the funeral ground
— NDTV (@ndtv) September 30, 2020
More here: https://t.co/vTSAsp1xcz pic.twitter.com/2Kib9OBMzg
When asked whether it was the victim's body being burnt, police personnel at the site refused to comment.
"Right behind me is the body of #HathrasCase victim burning. Police barricaded the family inside their home and burnt the body without letting anybody know," an India Today reporter said.
ABSOLUTELY UNBELIEVABLE - Right behind me is the body of #HathrasCase victim burning. Police barricaded the family inside their home and burnt the body without letting anybody know. When we questioned the police, this is what they did. pic.twitter.com/0VgfQGjjfb
— Tanushree Pandey (@TanushreePande) September 29, 2020
#cremation was carried out at 2:40 am in the village. #Hathras pic.twitter.com/bXhCfS4tYm
— Anuja Jaiswal (@Anuja_Jaiswal11) September 30, 2020
Several visuals from the incident also showed the family members arguing with cops and the victim's mother weeping. Several villagers had also tried to stop the ambulance from going to the funeral ground.
#HathrasCase Major ruckus in the village right now. UP cops & officials forcing kin to cremate body overnight. Family begging that let us at least take the girl home one last time. Village people came in front of the ambulance, saying "we will not let you burn our girl forcibly" pic.twitter.com/gHAv4Oq5Yd
— Tanushree Pandey (@TanushreePande) September 29, 2020
Doctors at the hospital said that the woman's tongue was cut and she has multiple fractures all over her body. All four accused have been arrested and sent to jail on the charge of gang-rape and murder.
A broadcast turned digital journalist, Shweta Kothari heads the newsroom at The Logical Indian. She has previously worked with CNBC and NewsX as a news anchor and senior correspondent. Shweta holds a masters degree in journalism from the university of Sussex, UK and started her career with work placement with BBC in Scotland.
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