New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Sunday officially registered a case into the alleged gang-rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras.
The agency’s move came almost eight days after UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recommended a CBI probe, amid a growing political storm over the death of the victim and her hurried cremation by the administration without the presence of her family. The opposition has even called for the CM’s resignation over the issue.
Adityanath had said on 3 October that the UP government was “determined to ensure the harshest punishment for those guilty”. The central government issued a notification Sunday that the CBI will take over the investigation. The agency formally registered the case in the morning.
“The Central Bureau of Investigation has today registered a case against an accused and taken over the investigation of the case, earlier registered at Chandpa police station in Hathras on a complaint,” the agency said in a statement.
“The complainant had alleged that on 14 September the accused tried to strangulate his sister in the millet field. The case has been registered by CBI on the request of Uttar Pradesh government and further notification from Government of India,” it added.
The woman was allegedly raped by four upper caste men on 14 September. She died two weeks later on 29 September. The accused — Sandeep, 20, his uncle Ravi, 35, and their friends Ramu, 26, and Luvkush, 23 — have been booked for charges of murder, gang-rape and violation of the SC/ST Act.
‘Needs thorough re-investigation’
According to sources, the Hathras case will now be probed by the Ghaziabad branch of CBI’s Lucknow Zone. A team has already been constituted for the probe.
“The team will visit the crime scene along with forensic experts. The team will recreate the crime and also look for fresh evidence. The team will also analyse the tower locations of the accused, their call detail records,” said a CBI source.
“The case needs to be re-investigated thoroughly. All the evidence, whether circumstantial, scientific or technical, will be analysed to reach a logical conclusion,” the source said.
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