Kin of Hathras victim to appear before Allahabad HC today

Lucknow, Oct 12: The family members of a 19-year-old Dalit woman, who died after allegedly being raped by four men in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district, will appear before the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court amid tight security on Monday. The family has left for Lucknow amidst high security.

The court will record the version of the victim's family members in the case. It had on October 1 asked the woman's parents to come to apprise it of their version of the incident.

The hearing is likely to be held in-person. The court had ordered the Hathras district administration to arrange for the family's travel.

The case is listed for hearing before a division bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Rajan Roy at 2:15 PM.

The high court had directed the district judge to ensure that the victim's family members appear before it on Monday.

It has also summoned additional chief secretary, home; director general of police; ADG, law and order; and district magistrate and superintendent of police of Hathras to furnish the status report of the investigation in the case.

The state government has asked additional advocate general V K Sahi to represent it before the court.

"The district judge, who has been appointed as the nodal officer for the appearance of the Hathras victim's family members before the high court, is in touch with it as to when the case is listed. The family will move accordingly. The family is in Hathras as of now," Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Jaiswal told PTI on Sunday morning.

Police did not divulge the details of their security plan on the movement of the woman's family members.

Sixty security personnel have been deployed and eight closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras installed at the victim's house to ensure the safety of her family members, according to the police.

With the help of CCTV cameras, the victim's house is being monitored round-the-clock, the police said.

Jaiswal said a register of visitors is being maintained by policemen deployed at the entrance of the house.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Shalabh Mathur, who has been sent to Hathras from Lucknow as a nodal officer, had on Friday said if needed, a control room would also be established.

"Shocked" by the murder and alleged gang-rape of the Dalit woman and the subsequent forcible cremation, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had on October 1 summoned top government officials.

Taking suo motu cognisance of the case, which has triggered widespread outrage, a division bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Jaspreet Singh had ordered the Uttar Pradesh additional chief secretary, state police chief and an additional director general of police to appear before it on October 12 to explain the incident.

"The incidents which took place after the death of the victim on September 29, 2020, leading up to her cremation, as alleged, have shocked our conscience. Therefore, we are taking suo moto cognisance of the same," the bench had said in its order.