New Delhi: Over 180 students, faculty, staff members and alumni of the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, have written an open letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding justice for the 20-year-old Dalit woman from Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, who was allegedly gang raped by four men on 14 September and died on 29 September.
“We demand justice for the girl who died under the brutal attack without recourse to good medical care and who was not given the dignity of a last farewell. We demand justice for the family who was even denied access to participate in her last rites,” read the letter, published Monday.
The woman was cremated on the intervening night of 29 and 30 September by the Uttar Pradesh Police, without the presence of her family.
The faculty and alumni also asked the PM to ensure that the victim’s family “not be intimidated, but rather supported to get justice”.
“We demand that in addition to the perpetrators of the rape, those who seek to bury this matter with such impunity are also punished,” the letter added.
‘Justice for poorest and marginalised’
The letter also noted that justice should be delivered to all, especially those from the poorest and most marginalised communities, targeted and abused “on the basis of their caste or religion”.
“We demand that our law and order system follows due process and justice in this case and always. Not encounters. Not cover-ups. Not extrajudicial killings,” the letter stated.
“As the heirs of Ambedkar, Gandhi, Kabir, Savitribai Phule, Basavanna and countless others who have fought for equality and our rights, we will no longer consent to this injustice. We stand together and say “Enough!” This stops in our generation. This stops with us,” it added.
The alleged gang rape and subsequent death of the woman from Hathras have led to widespread national outrage.
The Hathras administration and the Uttar Pradesh Police are especially under fire for their handling of the incident, including the hurried cremation without family.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recommended a CBI probe in the case Saturday.
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