In the Hathras case, the four accused who had been arrested by UP Police wrote a letter to the Superintendent of Police from jail and have claimed that they are innocent. In the letter, Sandeep, the main accused, who as per the victim’s family had strangulated her in the fields, has stated that he was on freindly terms with the victim and used to talk to her often. The family of the victim disapproved of the friendship.
As per Sandeep’s letter, he had met the victim on the day of the incident on the farm. Her brother and mother were with her, who had asked him to leave immediately and he had come back to help his father take care of the farm animals. Sandeep has claimed that he learned later the victim’s mother and her brother had beat her up over her friendship with him. He has written that he learned that the girl had sustained injuries after being attacked and beaten by her brother and mother on the day of the incident.
The accused has further written that he was friends with the victim and had never assaulted her or abused her in any way. “We are innocent. Please investigate the case and help us in getting justice,” he added. The letter had the signature and thumbprints of all four accused names Luvkush, Ravi, Ram Kumar, and Sandeep.
Hathras case
The Hathras case in which a 19-year-old woman was strangulated on September 14 and later succombed to injuries on September 29 has been the ground for much political drama over the caste angle. As soon as the case started to gain attention, it became a political issue for the opposition parties. Congress leaders Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad, TMC leader Derek O’Brien, and several others have visited Hathras to meet the family.
While the investigation was underway, several news agencies tried to build a narrative against the state government. One report was caught on tape, dictating the victim’s brother to speak in a video she needed for the story. The investigating agencies also uncovered an international conspiracy of communal riots in the state over the Hathras case. Four people liked to PFI were arrested in Mathura.
Though the victim and her family members had initially alleged that Sandeep had strangulated the girl, later they levelled allegations of rape and gang rape. The post mortem and forensic lab reports have ruled out rape or sexual assault on the victim.
National Commission of Woman had to step in after several celebrities and leaders, including Digvijay Singh, actor Swara Bhaskar, and Amit Malviya, revealed the identity of the victim that is against the law.
