Hathras gangrape: UP Police posts 60 cops, installs 8 cameras at victim's home, likely to recreate crime scene

Weeks after a 19-year-old Dalit girl was gang-raped and assaulted in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district, the state police on Friday stated that security has been tightened at her family's house.

The police said that sixty security personnel have been deployed and eight CCTV cameras have been installed in victim's house in the Bulgarhi village, "to ensure the safety of her family members".

DIG Shalabh Mathur, who has been sent to Hathras from Lucknow as a nodal officer, also said that a control room will also be established in the village, if required.

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The police has also decided to recreate the crime scene, in a bid to identify the "missing links", reports said on Friday. The decision has been taken after the police "noticed contrasting statements" from the victim's family and other locals.

"Another official, requesting anonymity, said the investigators have found four sickles and a slipper from the crime scene in a ‘bajra’ field near the victim’s house. He said it suggests that there were at least four people who were cutting crops and may have been eyewitness to the entire episode," a report by Hindustan Times said.

Sixty cops deployed at victim's house, says UP Police

Mathur said that the family will be monitored "round-the-clock", and added, "sixty personnel, including women, have been deployed on 12 hours shifts for the security of the victim's family. A gazetted officer will also be deployed to monitor these personnel".

Hathras Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Jaiswal also said that a register of visitors is being maintained by policemen at the entry of the house.

Two security personnel have been provided to each family member for their personal security, he said. A team of firefighters and two local intelligence unit personnel have also been deployed.

"At the main gate of the house, a metal detector has been installed and quick response teams are also in place. With the help of eight CCTV cameras, security is being ensured," Jaiswal said.

The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped on 14 September, after which she was admitted to the JN Medical College Hospital in Aligarh with serious injuries. She was admitted to Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital on 28 September after her condition showed no signs of improvement.

She succumbed to grievous injuries, which included fractures, on 29 September at the Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital. Her body was then cremated in the dead of night near her home on 30 September, by the police.

Her family alleged that they were forced by the local police to hurriedly conduct her last rites. Local police officers, however, had said the cremation was carried out "as per the wishes of the family".

The state government has already recommended a CBI probe in the matter and quoting forensic reports, it has denied the rape charges.

However, according to The Hindu, in a video recorded by the police, the victim had said that she was gang-raped by two men.

'Hathras exists in Jharkhand as well': State HC slams 'shoddy' probe in similar case

The Jharkhand High Court on Friday pulled up the state police for its "lacklustre and shoddy investigation" into the alleged rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl earlier in the year, and said Hathras-like places not just exist in Uttar Pradesh but in this state as well.

The court also directed DGP MV Rao to constitute a special investigation team to look into the case.

According to an FIR filed on 30 March, the accused had poured kerosene oil on the girl, a resident of Giridih, and set her on fire. Her father said that the family had caught hold of the accused when he was trying to escape, but his relatives came to his rescue.

Justice Ananda Sen, while hearing a writ petition filed by the father on Thursday, said the post-mortem report has suggested that the girl sustained 100 percent burns, her body was charred, but the investigation in the case was carried out in a "casual" manner.

The shocking incident prompted the court to say: "Hathras (like places) is not only in the State of Uttar Pradesh, but also is in the State of Jharkhand."

"Surprisingly, rather shockingly the swab of the victim was sent to the laboratory only on 20 May. In the entire case diary there is no explanation about the delay caused," Justice Sen observed. The court cannot keep its eyes shut and ignore this type of "lacklustre and shoddy" probe, he added.

"This heinous incident needs immediate investigation to bring to light the correct fact and to book the accused. The way this investigation proceeded is absolutely unsatisfactory.

"I think this is a fit case where a special investigation team (SIT) be constituted. I, therefore, direct the Director General of Police, Jharkhand, to immediately constitute a SIT to investigate the case," Justice Sen added.

BJP slams Rahul Gandhi over crimes in Rajasthan

The BJP on Friday hit out at the Congress over incidents of crime in Rajasthan, saying law and order in the state has "gone for a toss" and asked Rahul Gandhi to pay attention to it instead of visiting BJP-ruled states for "political tourism".

The BJP leaders, including Union minister Prakash Javadekar, cited the murder of a temple priest who was allegedly burnt by land grabbers at Karauli in the Congress-ruled state. They also attacked the Congress over the recent crimes, including rapes, in the desert state.

Taking a swipe at Rahul Gandhi, Javadekar said, "Instead of going to different places on political tourism, he should take cognizance of heinous crimes against women and apologise to the people of Rajasthan that their government has failed."

Action should be taken against the culprits, he said. "Law and order in Rajasthan has gone for a toss, the minister alleged referring to the Karauli incident.

Former Union minister and BJP spokesperson Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore alleged that nobody, be it women or children, were safe in Rajasthan.

With inputs from agencies