The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Monday pulled up the UP Police for the hush-hush cremation of a19-year-old Dalit woman, who was allegedly sexually assaulted in Hathras, in the dead of the night.
The counsel for the victim's family told media persons that the Bench of Justices Pankaj Mithal and Rajan Roy asked ADG (Law and Order), Prashant Kumar, if he would have allowed his daughter to be cremated in a similar manner? The court also questioned if the police action would have been similar if the victim came from an affluent family.
The bench had summoned top state government functionaries, the Hathras DM and SP, apart from the ADG (Law and Order). The victim's family also appeared before the court to record their statement.
The victim's family urged the court to transfer the case out of the state as they ‘did not have faith in the local authorities’. They also pleaded for security till the end of the proceedings and that reports of the CBI be kept confidential, reports India Today’s news portal.
According to wire agency PTI, the District Magistrate of Hathras, Praveen Kumar Laxkar, who also appeared before the court, accepted that it was his decision to cremate the victim’s body in the wee hours. He said it was done to control the law and order situation, which they feared may get out of hand. The court has fixed the next hearing in the matter on November 2.
