The All India Mahila Congress on Thursday demanded reopening of the probe into the 2020 Hathras alleged gangrape and death case, citing revelations made in the documentary “Hathras 16 Days”, which it alleged exposed serious lapses and an alleged cover-up by the Uttar Pradesh administration and police during the investigation.
Addressing a press conference in the national capital, Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba claimed the documentary raised disturbing questions about the manner in which evidence was handled and how the victim’s family was allegedly denied justice in the case that had triggered nationwide outrage.
Referring to the incident, Lamba said the Dalit woman was assaulted on September 14, 2020, and later died at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on September 29. She alleged that the victim’s body was cremated by authorities in the middle of the night without the consent or presence of her family members, an episode that had drawn severe criticism at the time.
The Congress leader also recalled that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were stopped by police while attempting to visit the victim’s family in Hathras shortly after the incident.
Citing portions of the documentary, Lamba alleged that crucial forensic evidence was either delayed or destroyed. She claimed the victim was cleaned before medical examination and evidence was not collected for several days, weakening the prosecution’s case. According to her, statements from a gynaecologist and a former senior police officer shown in the documentary suggested that proper procedures were not followed during the investigation.
She further questioned the circumstances under which the victim’s body was allegedly cremated in the presence of senior district officials, asking who ordered such action and under what pressure it was carried out.
Pointing out that three of the four accused were later acquitted, Lamba alleged that flaws in the investigation had weakened the case. She demanded action against officials accused of mishandling evidence and delaying the FIR process.
The Mahila Congress leader also alleged that the victim’s family continued to live under fear and sought immediate implementation of promises related to security, compensation and employment assistance. Targeting the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, she claimed crimes against women continued to rise in the state and accused the administration of failing to ensure justice in sensitive cases involving women.
