Hathras' Troubled Past: Horrific Incident From 2020 That Turned Spotlight On Town

A sleepy town in the west-central Uttar Pradesh, Hathras, is in news for the stampede that killed 121 people at a religious congregation Tuesday.

The mishap took place at a 'satsang' of Baba Narayan Hari alias Saakar Vishwa Hari 'Bhole Baba', a cop-turned-godman. He has massive following among devotees, especially in western Uttar Pradesh. The real name of 'Bhole Baba' is Surajpal. He is a native of Bahadur Nagar in Kasganj district, a retired IPS officer informed.

However, this is not the first time Hathras' name has popped up in news. The town was in spotlight for the wrong reasons in the year 2020 when a case of gangrape and murder of a Dalit girl was registered here.

The incident generated huge outcry and uproar all over the country. The crime got widespread attention when the Dalit girl's body was reportedly cremated by the Uttar Pradesh Police to destroy evidence, in spite of her family not consenting to it.

Background

On September 14, 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit girl was gangraped by four men, allegedly upper castes. The victim's condition deteriorated so badly after the horrific crime that she had to be shifted to a Delhi hospital, where she succumbed two weeks later.

The incident took a bizarre turn when a Kerala-based Journalist, Sidique Kappan, who was on his way to cover the news, was arrested by UP cops. He was released from prison after serving two years.

Several protests broke out and UP CM Yogi Adityanath's government came under fire from all quarters for its alleged mishandling of the case.

Incident

The victim and her mother were working in the fields belonging to Thakurs of the Boolgarhi village. At around 9:30 AM, the mother heard her daughter screaming from a distance. Rushing to the scene, she found her daughter lying on the ground, covered in blood, with her tongue cut off. She immediately took the victim to the nearest police station.

Delayed FIR by Police

The cops allegedly delayed in registering the FIR and told the family to take the victim back home. The victim's brother said that, Sandeep, one of the accused, attempted to kill her. Later, and FIR was filed against Sandeep under Section 354 of the IPC.

When the cops recorded the victim's statement, she alleged that she was raped by four men - Sandeep, Ramu, Lavkush, and Ravi - all belonging to upper castes.

The case was later transferred to CBI and all the four accused were arrested for gangrape, murder, and under Scheduled Caste & Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

Now, with the stampede that killed scores of innocent people yesterday, the town of Hathras has once again grabbed eyeballs - not for the right reasons, sadly.