Weeks after hathras verdict a village still divided

Weeks after hathras verdict a village still divided

It has been weeks since the special judge of an SC/ST court in Hathras pronounced his 167-page judgment in the alleged gang rape of a Dalit girl by four upper caste men on September 14, 2020.

The court convicted the primary accused, Sandeep Sisodia, to life imprisonment under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and Section 3(2)(v) SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, but did not find him guilty of gang rape. The other three accused, Ravi, Lav Kush and Ramu, were acquitted of all charges.

Disquiet in Boolgarhi

However, there is as much disquiet in Boolgarhi village as on September 30, 2020, when the district administration forcibly cremated the victim in the dead of night, after she passed away at a Delhi hospital during treatment.

Different residents have varying opinions on the order, depending on what they want to see in the case, bringing out the sway of caste in the village.

‘Justice not done’

Family members of the victim said justice has not been done and they would knock on the doors of the higher judiciary. Her father asked, “The judgment gives the impression that we tutored our daughter into naming four people for her rape and murder because we had a running feud with the family of the accused and she was having an affair with Sandeep. Why would we do that?”

On the court’s observation that the politicisation of the incident could have pushed the family to change its statement, he said, “It was politicised when the administration cremated our daughter at night without our permission.” The victim’s elder brother said, “It seems our educational and social backgrounds have not been kept in mind while arriving at the judgment.”

Hathras MP from BJP Rajveer Diler, reacting to the defence lawyer’s claim that the family was related to him, said it was not true.

Seema Kushwaha, the lawyer of the victim’s family, said the order strangely did not take note of her arguments in the court, but only those of the public prosecutor.

“The judgment doesn’t take into account the social stigma involved in such cases and doesn’t talk of how the delay and lapses in the U.P. Police investigation could have weakened the case against the accused… the judge didn’t accept the victim’s dying declaration,” she said.

Ms. Kushwaha added, “We feel that the convict had the intention and motivation to rape and kill, and we will raise the gaps in the judgment before the High Court.”

Accused to fight legally

Meanwhile, the families of the accused feel justice has not been done completely.

Atar Singh, father of the accused Ravi, said, “We still don’t know who killed the girl. The names of our boys were added because the family wanted to make crores. It was the MP’s daughter who made them accuse our sons, and the media ran away with the story. Who will pay for it?”

A relative of the accused Sandeep said, “Our bread earners were in jail, but they [the victim’s family] are living like VIPs under security cover.” He said the legal battle to have Sandeep acquitted would continue.

Balbir Singh, who belongs to the same caste as Sandeep but had a fallout with his family, said he stood by them because of caste pride.

Caste pride

The victim’s father, he said, was a gentle soul. “For decades, we have helped him. But when the lawyer told us it was a matter of a love affair, we had to stand by the boys.”

Meanwhile, CRPF personnel guarding the victim’s family were curious to know for how long they had to be on duty.

“How long will this continue? We try not to infringe on their privacy, but this is not always possible,” a senior officer said.

“At any given time of the day, at least 16 personnel are on duty. The only parallel is Unnao, where, too, we are providing security to the victim’s family,” he said, referring to the 2017 Unnao case where a 17-year-old girl was allegedly raped by former BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar.