New Delhi: The CBI registered an FIR early Sunday morning and took over investigation into the alleged gangrape and murder of a Dalit woman last month in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, officials said.
The central probe agency registered the FIR under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections related to gangrape and murder among others, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
It assigned the case to its Ghaziabad unit with a special team to investigate the ghastly crime, they said.
The 19-year old woman was allegedly raped by four men on September 14. She succumbed to severe assault injuries at a Delhi hospital a fortnight later which was followed by a hushed up cremation at night allegedly forced by the district administration.
The brutal injuries suffered by the woman and the administration’s move to cremate her body late at night triggered massive outrage among people resulting in a pitched political battle from Delhi to Hathras, a city known for its satire and asafoetida. The political slugfest was further perpetuated after the state police’s statement that it had not found any evidence of rape.
Faced with public anger and the opposition’s protests over the Dalit teenager’s alleged rape and murder by upper caste men, the state government had finally decided to hand over the case to the CBI which was referred to the probe agency by a central government notification on Saturday.
The officer concerned of the Uttar Pradesh police had registered a case of attempt to murder on a statement by the victim’s brother who, as per the FIR at Chandpa police station, had said the accused had tried to strangulate his sister in a millet field and escaped when she raised an alarm. (PTI)
