A video went viral over the weekened that showed two men issuing threats to Dalit leader Chandrashekhar Azad ahead of his visit to the family of Hathras victim.
In the viral video, two men, believed to be from the victim's village, are heard saying, "Do you not have faith in the CBI? He (Azad) does not trust the CBI, has come here to do politics. Just let us meet him once then we will make sure he does."
"Thakurs are born to withstand blows...Come out, your big brothers are here to meet you," the man says in apparent reference to Azad.
As he is issuing the threat, gun-trotting policemen are standing behind him silently.
In a picture, the same man is seen with folded hands surrounded by dozens of cops.
Who are the men?
People on social media wondered about the identity of the man, no one was able to identify him. NDTV said in a report that they were part of the protest held in the village under the banner of "Rashtriya Savarn (upper caste) Parishad".
The report identified them as the resident of the same Bhoolagadhi village of the victim.
His Facebook profile identifies him as Pandit Pankaj Dhavraiya, national president of "Rashtriya Savarn Parishad." His residence os not mentioned on his Facebook profile but he writes his education as M.Sc. Agriculture from RBS College, Agra.
The identity of the second man is not known.
While there is no report of any police action against the upper-caste gathering, Bhim Army leader Chandrashekhar Azad and 400-500 unidentified persons have been booked for the violation of Section 144.
Azad and others have been booked on the charges of violating Section 144 of the CrPC and the Epidemic Diseases Act at the Sasni police station in Hathras.
Azad and his supporters had visited the family on Sunday, during which they had heated exchanges with police deployed there.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras on September 14. She died on September 29 at Delhi''s Safdarjung Hospital during treatment.
The victim was cremated in the dead of the night near her home on September 30. Her family alleged they were forced by the local police to hurriedly conduct her last rites. Local police officers, however, said the cremation was carried out "as per the wishes of the family".
The Uttar Pradesh government has reccomended the transfer of case ot CBI.
