'We need justice, not money,' says Hathras gang-rape victim's kin

Hathras, Oct 03: days after the village was blocked and media was not allowed to meet the family members of the deceased 19-year-old girl, the family members said that they want justice and not money as they spoke to reporters.

The Dalit woman was raped by four "upper caste" men earlier and was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College of Aligarh Muslim University after she was left partially paralysed. She was later shifted to Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi where she died on Tuesday.

Speaking to reports, the family said they were not allowed see their daughter's body before her forcible cremation at 2:30am, adding that their request to cremate the woman in the morning fell on deaf ears. "We lied down in front of the ambulance but were removed and the cremation was forcefully performed at night," they said.

They were referring to the victim cremated by the Uttar Pradesh police in the predawn hours on Wednesday against the family's wish. The family members were allegedly locked inside their house and could not perform the last rites.

The area was cordoned by the Uttar Pradesh authorities and Section 144 was imposed in the district that barred political leaders and journalists from meeting the family members. Earlier in the day, the district was reopened only for reporters.

The family has alleged that they, especially the woman's father, were being pressured by the UP authorities. They also alleged that no probe was conducted by the special investigation team (SIT) on Friday on the pretext of which media was restricted from entering the village.