Shiv Sena MP urges President Kovind to provide security cover to Hathras gang-rape victim's family

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 3 (ANI): Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena leader Priyanka Chaturvedi on Saturday wrote a letter to President Ram Nath Kovind, urging him to provide immediate security cover by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) to the Hathras gang-rape victim's family to ensure their safety.
She said that a 19-year-old woman hailing from the Valmiki community was denied the promise of the Constitution of India of equality before the law and equal protection of the law in both life and death. "The victim faced many indignities -- in not receiving prompt medical treatment, in the failure of the police to register her complaint on time, and in the forcible midnight cremation against all constitutional values," the Shiv Sena MP stated in a letter.
She alleged that the victim's family are now being held in captivity and threatened by officials in Hathras and are also denied free speech and movement.
Rajya Sabha MP further said that the family has also expressed their distrust towards the UP police in carrying out a free and fair investigation.
Highlighting the facts on cremation of the victim's body by the Uttar Pradesh police at 2.30 am on September 30, the Shiv Sena leader said "In human history, people are accorded the dignity of a decent cremation, and family members given a chance to bid adieu to their beloved. But on 30 September, 2020, the nation saw a grief-stricken and sobbing family of the deceased being denied a decent cremation as per Hindu rites and the body burnt in the middle of the night. It was a reminder of a time when, in this country, a person was relegated by oppressors through the unscientific and inhuman caste system".
The 19-year-old Hathras victim died at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on September 29, a fortnight after allegedly being gang-raped. All the four accused in the incident have been arrested.
The UP government had formed an SIT to probe the incident and said that the matter will be heard in the fast track court.
An uproar has erupted over the incident with the opposition also raising questions over the manner in which the last rites of the victim were performed. The police have said that consent of family was taken for cremation. (ANI)