An exclusive news report published by Zee News claims that the Hathras victim’s brother was friends with the main accused Sandeep and used to talk with him on phone too.
The call record details accessed by Zee News reportedly show that the main accused Sandeep was in regular contact with the victim’s family through a particular phone number. The police have now found that the number in question is registered in the name of victim’s brother. The details reveal that five hours of conversation took between the two numbers during the period of October 2019 to March 2020.
While the records suggested that the victim’s brother was having talks with Sandeep, he has denied having conversations with the main accused in the Hathras case, as per the Zee News report. This gives rise to the question of if not the brother then who had conversations worth more than 5 hours in 6 months duration.
It is notable here that several media reports have cited that the villagers in the Bhoolgarhi village where the strangulation incident occurred on September 14 had stated that the accused Sandeep and the deceased victims had an affair, which was opposed by both families. There is also an old land dispute between both families, prompting speculations that the accused may have been framed by the deceased victim’s family.
The same report published by Zee News mentions some villagers who had hinted towards a possible love affair between the accused and the victim. The family members of the accused have also pledged innocence of their kin and rubbished the allegations of gang-rape levelled against them. It is notable here that the Hathras victim’s family members had only alleged a strangulation attempt in their initial police complaint in the case.
Viral videos showing the statements of the victim and her mother had also claimed that she was attacked and strangulated while working in the fields with her mother. There was no mention of rape or sexual assault in the initial statements. The victim’s family had alleged rape after several days and ‘added’ the names of other accused persons in their statement.
The Hathras incident
The Hathras case came under the spotlight after the victim of the incident succumbed to her injuries last Tuesday. It has been alleged that the victim was brutalised and allegedly raped two weeks before her death. However, post mortem and forensic lab results had ruled out rape or any kind of sexual assault on the victim.
The opposition parties have also used the incident to mount their attack and mobilise support against the Yogi Adityanath government. Despite prohibitory orders, several politicians reached Hathras and demanded to meet the family of the victim. This has often resulted in clashes between the supporters of the politicians and the law enforcement officials.
FIR filed against various individuals for instigating caste-based violence in Uttar Pradesh
At least 6 FIRs have been filed by the UP police against various individuals relating to the Hathras case. One of the FIRs states that an international conspiracy was hatched with the help of funding from Amnesty International and Islamic countries to foment unrest in the state on the lines of social upheaval in the United States.
The police had claimed that the conspiracy was meant to trigger a caste-based riots in the state. The role of fundamentalist organisations such as PFI and SDPI, who also played a key role in touching off anti-CAA riots earlier this year, has come to the fore.
