![](https://i.imgur.com/CLvY2jA.png")
03-10-2021, 11:42 AM
By Nidhi Suresh and Amitoj Singh
2 Oct 2021
Hathras, India – The gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in a village in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh last September had caused a public outcry and weeks of protests.
But a year on, the family of the victim has told Al Jazeera that their hopes for justice are fading as the case has dragged on. Of the 104 witnesses only 15 have deposed in the court so far, said Seema Kushwaha, the victim’s lawyer.
The case made it to global media headlines after the body of the girl was cremated in Hathras, about 200km (125 miles) from the national capital, New Delhi, in the early hours of September 30 last year without the family’s consent.
The police were also accused of initially refusing to register the first information report (FIR or police compliant) and did little to support the vulnerable family.
......
The slow pace of the legal proceedings has concerned the family belonging to the Dalit community – the lowest in India’s Hindu caste hierarchy.
......
The four accused – Sandeep, Luvkush, Ravi, and Ramu – are on trial. They are all upper-caste men from the Thakur community and belong to Boolgarhi, the same village where the victim’s family lives. Three of the accused are also extended relatives.
......
The prosecution is yet to conduct its proceedings – a sign that little has changed despite the unprecedented national and global outrage after the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case.
......
The case of the Hathras rape victim is still being heard in the regular district court known for delays. An astounding 40 million cases are pending in India’s lower courts as of September 2021.
The victim’s family lives in fear of retribution as all the accused belong to the dominant upper-caste Hindus
......
The victim’s family members have to seek permission even to buy groceries, while anyone entering the house, including journalists, has to register themselves.
“We live at home, but home has become a jail,” said the victim’s elder brother, Satyendra Kumar, 30, who represents the family in court hearings.
......
Five policemen involved in the burning of the victim’s pyre in the dead of the night were suspended. Authorities justified the burning of the pyre saying delaying the funeral could have caused violence and societal tension. The district magistrate claimed they had the consent of the family. However, the family denies the claim.
......
Between 2016 and 2019 for which data (PDF) is available, crime against women went up by 66.7 percent in Uttar Pradesh – the highest increase in any state of the country – while rape cases against women from the Scheduled Castes – the legal designation given to Dalits – went up (PDF) by 20.67 percent in the same period.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/2...-forgotten
2 Oct 2021
Hathras, India – The gang rape and murder of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in a village in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh last September had caused a public outcry and weeks of protests.
But a year on, the family of the victim has told Al Jazeera that their hopes for justice are fading as the case has dragged on. Of the 104 witnesses only 15 have deposed in the court so far, said Seema Kushwaha, the victim’s lawyer.
The case made it to global media headlines after the body of the girl was cremated in Hathras, about 200km (125 miles) from the national capital, New Delhi, in the early hours of September 30 last year without the family’s consent.
The police were also accused of initially refusing to register the first information report (FIR or police compliant) and did little to support the vulnerable family.
......
The slow pace of the legal proceedings has concerned the family belonging to the Dalit community – the lowest in India’s Hindu caste hierarchy.
......
The four accused – Sandeep, Luvkush, Ravi, and Ramu – are on trial. They are all upper-caste men from the Thakur community and belong to Boolgarhi, the same village where the victim’s family lives. Three of the accused are also extended relatives.
......
The prosecution is yet to conduct its proceedings – a sign that little has changed despite the unprecedented national and global outrage after the 2012 Delhi gang rape and murder case.
......
The case of the Hathras rape victim is still being heard in the regular district court known for delays. An astounding 40 million cases are pending in India’s lower courts as of September 2021.
The victim’s family lives in fear of retribution as all the accused belong to the dominant upper-caste Hindus
......
The victim’s family members have to seek permission even to buy groceries, while anyone entering the house, including journalists, has to register themselves.
“We live at home, but home has become a jail,” said the victim’s elder brother, Satyendra Kumar, 30, who represents the family in court hearings.
......
Five policemen involved in the burning of the victim’s pyre in the dead of the night were suspended. Authorities justified the burning of the pyre saying delaying the funeral could have caused violence and societal tension. The district magistrate claimed they had the consent of the family. However, the family denies the claim.
......
Between 2016 and 2019 for which data (PDF) is available, crime against women went up by 66.7 percent in Uttar Pradesh – the highest increase in any state of the country – while rape cases against women from the Scheduled Castes – the legal designation given to Dalits – went up (PDF) by 20.67 percent in the same period.
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/2...-forgotten
