Following the gruesome incident in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, where a 19-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped and brutally killed by her assailants, celebrity lawyer Deepika Rajawat, who had earlier fought for the Kathua rape victim only to be later removed by the victim’s family on account of her inordinate absence, had today ‘offered her services’ to the Hathras victim.
Taking to the social media website Twitter, Deepika announced that she had extended her services to the family members of the Hathras victim.
“As a lawyer, I extend my services to the family members of Hathras rape victim,” Deepika Singh Rajawat tweeted.
In her subsequent tweets, she asked her followers to put her through to the victim’s family and sought the mobile phone number of the victim’s father.
Advocate Deepika Singh Rajawat became an overnight celebrity in media after she appeared as a lawyer for Kathua rape and murder victim. Kathua rape case was top news for several weeks in the country, and Deepika was hailed as a hero of the case. It was argued that if Deepika Singh had not joined the case, the victim would have never got justice. And she became a superstar after she got a thumbs up from Hollywood star Emma Watson. In April 2019, Watson tweeted “All power to Deepika Singh Rajawat”.
However, she was later accused of grandstanding by taking up the case the of Kathua rape victim’s tragedy but deserting the victim’s family during the court proceedings.
Deepika Rajawat was removed by Kathua victim’s family for not attending court proceedings
In November 2018, it was revealed that Deepika had attended only 2 hearings in the case that was being heard by Pathankot session court. Sessions Judge Dr Tejwinder Singh was hearing the case on a daily basis as per Supreme Court order, and a total of 110 hearings had taken place already in the five and a half months. But the celebrity lawyer, who was supposed to lead the fight for justice of the victim, attended only 2 of these hearings.
Subsequently, an affidavit was filed at the Pathankot sessions court by the victim’s father Mohammad Yousaf, who was also the main complainant of the FIR, saying that Deepika will no longer be his advocate in the case and he is withdrawing the power of attorney issued to her. According to Yousaf, Deepika Rajawat had said she has a threat to her life in Pathankot, that’s why she did not go there for hearings. In view of this, Yousaf informed the court that he is removing Deepika Rajawat from the case.
After she was removed from the case, Deepika had posted a tweet, alleging that she stood with the family when no one else did and since the “rainy days had passed”, they had winded up with her. In a bid to push the blame on the grieving family, Deepika said that she does not blame the grieving parents for removing her owing to her lack of attendance. Because it is “the human tendency which travels in genes”.
