Hathras News LIVE updates | Rahul Gandhi leaves for UP to meet family of alleged gangrape victim

A delegation of Congress leaders led by former party president Rahul Gandhi will go to Hathras on October 3 to meet the family of the 19-year-old woman who died after she was assaulted and allegedly gang-raped. They will reportedly meet the family to hear their grievances and demand justice for them. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will also be part of the delegation.

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi along with several party leaders and workers were detained by the police and sent back to Delhi on October 1, after they tried to reach Hathras to meet the family of the Dalit woman.

The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped at a village in Hathras by four men on September 14. After her condition deteriorated, she was referred to the Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital where she breathed her last on September 29.

She was cremated in the early hours of September 30, with her family alleging the local police forced them to conduct the last rites in the dead of the night. Local police officers, however, had said the cremation was carried out "as per the wishes of the family".

2:40 pm: ACS Home Avnish Awasthi and DGP HC Awasthy meet the family of the alleged gangrape victim.

2:25 pm: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi leaves for Hathras from the national capital to meet the family of the alleged gangrape victim.

2:18 pm: Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad hits out at UP government and calls the incident a routine in the state. Speaking to reporters, he said, "Is there a system in UP? Since this govt came into power there have been many cases. Earlier, there were cases of lynching, killing of opposition leaders & filing cases against them. This is not new but routine in UP."

1.55 pm: Barricades were installed at the Delhi-Noida Direct (DND) flyway where scores of policemen, including senior officers, were present at 12.30 pm, even as CrPC section 144 remained imposed in UP's Gautam Buddh Nagar.

1.40 pm: Our objective is just to meet the family and hear their grievances, Congress leader K  Venugopal told reporters.

1.22 pm: I do not accept the treatment being done by the Uttar Pradesh government and its police with this girl and her family. No Indian should accept this, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.

1.05 pm: Security beefed up and barricades put up at the toll plaza on Delhi Noida Direct Flyway in view of the visit of a Congress delegation led by Rahul Gandhi to Hathras.

12.50 pm: I don't know why the media were stopped. If the government has not done anything wrong then the media should be allowed to visit there (Bulgaddhi village, Hathras) to bring out the facts: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut

12.35 pm: Nothing in the world can stop me from meeting this grieving family in Hathras and sharing their pain, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.