Nirbhaya convicts lawyer AP Singh to defend Hathras gang-rape, muder case accused

Hathras, Oct 06: In what comes as a recent development, AP Singh, the lawyer who fought in defence of all convicts in the 2012 Nirbhaya gang-rape case, is likely to defend the four men accused in the Hathras gang-rape and murder case.

According to reports, Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha, an upper-caste body, allegedly reached out to Singh to fight the accused in the ongoing gang-rape of the 19-year-old girl, who died during medical treatment at Delhi's Safdarjung Hospital.

In a recent press release, AP Singh has mentioned that the body had collected a lot of money to hire him as they thought the SC/ST objective was being 'misused' to slander the upper caste community.

The decision was taken by former Union Minister Raja Manvendra Singh, who is the national president of Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha.

Notably, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that a conspiracy was being hatched in the state by politicising the incident in order to organise an ethnic riot. The State Police had also filed a lawsuit under IPC sections in Lucknow.

Amid a nationwide outrage over the growing number of caste-led rape cases, the Hathras case has started receiving support from upper-caste groups who are demanding an 'unbiased' probe.