A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking a probe by the CBI or a Special Investigation Team into the brutal gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh.
The petition filed by Delhi-based activist Satyama Dubey, through advocate Sanjeev Malhotra, said the investigation should be monitored by a former Supreme Court or High Court judge. It said the trial of the accused persons in the case should be shifted to Delhi.
Ms. Dubey said a fair investigation should encompass the circumstances after the victim’s death at Safdarjung Hospital, including media reports about the police rushing through a midnight cremation of her body in the absence of her family. The family alleged that they were not allowed to perform her last rites.
The case has created a public furore, with the National Human Rights Commission issuing notice to the Uttar Pradesh administrative and police establishments. The chief of the Delhi Commission for Women has already written to Chief Justice of India to take suo motu cognisance of the case. Meanwhile, the State government has set up a fast-track court to try the case.
“Police Authorities had not performed their duties towards the victim and are trying to shield the accused persons for reasons best known to them… The family of the victim was victimised by upper-caste persons and no action has been taken by the authorities or the police,” the petition said.