Hathras incident: Hurried cremation of victim violation of human rights: High Court

Oct. 13: The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court which had taken suo moto cognisance in the case of the alleged gangrape and death of the Dalit woman in Hathras said on Tuesday said that the victim was entitled to a decent cremation in accordance with her religious customs, which “essentially are to be performed by her family”. The bench observed that the late-night cremation of the Hathras woman who died after alleged gang-rape was a violation of human rights for which the responsibility should be fixed.

The judges also warned against “character assassination” of the 20-year-old. “No one should indulge in character assassination of the victim just as the accused should not be pronounced guilty before a fair trial”. The division bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Rajan Roy also expected the electronic and print media to observe restraint while reporting and discussing the matter.

The court, in its detailed order issued on Tuesday after the hearing on Monday, said the larger issue which this incident raises impacts such rights of other residents of the entire state. The court, referring to precedents, observed that the right to dignity and fair treatment enshrined under Article 21 of the Constitution is not only available to a living person, but also to his/her body after death. “How do you know she wasn’t raped? Has the investigation concluded? Please go through the new rape law of 2013,” the court told senior police officer Prashant Kumar.

The 19-year-old Dalit woman died at a Delhi hospital a fortnight after her alleged rape by four men from her village in Hathras district on September 14. The Uttar Pradesh Police had “cremated” the body of the victim in the dead of the night, in the family’s absence, leading to outrage and protests across several states.