Hathras rape case: Centre issues official notification for CBI to take over investigation

The central government has issued a notification for the CBI to take over probe into the alleged gang-rape and death of a 19-year-old woman in Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Saturday. The notification has been marked to a suitable branch of the premier agency, and probe teams will be dispatched to the crime scene along with forensic experts immediately after the registration of an FIR, they said. The Dalit woman had died of grievous injuries at a Delhi hospital on September 29, a fortnight after she was allegedly raped at her village by four upper caste men. Besides the alleged gang-rape case, the Uttar Pradesh government has sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the FIR related to the alleged criminal conspiracy to spread caste conflict, instigating violence, incidents of vicious propaganda by sections of media and political interests, they said.