UP govt orders round-the-clock security outside Hathras rape victim's house

HATHRAS: The Uttar Pradesh government deployed round-the-clock security outside the house of the Hathras victim, accepting her family's demands on Monday.

As per Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Jaiswal, two women sub-inspectors (SIs) and six women constables have been stationed there. "Two security personnel have been deployed for the security of the victim's brother. Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel are also camping outside the house."

Apart from them, 15 police personnel, three station house officers (SHOs) and one deputy superintendent of police (DySP)-rank officer have been deployed in the village to prevent any untoward incident, he said.

The victim's brother told ANI they feared for their safety. "We are afraid of threats (from the well-wishers of the four accused arrested in the case). The coming days will be more challenging for us."

Earlier he had stated that they had sought protection from the government.

"The family largely fears receiving threats for speaking up. Also, they fear that they might have to leave their home," a relative said.

On October 2, the Uttar Pradesh government had suspended the then SP, DSP, an inspector and some other officials on the basis of the first report of a Special Investigation Team probing the matter, even as it handed over the matter to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

The 19-year-old Hathras woman succumbed to brutal assault injuries in Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital last month. The post-mortem report said that the victim suffered a fracture of "cervical vertebra".

Amid enormous outrage by the opposition parties and civil society since the teen's death on September 29, social media too erupted in protests after a video, purportedly showing the administration cremating the body without the presence of family members, went viral.