Hathras incident should be reinvestigated: Alka Lamba

The Congress has alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is silent on the incidents of exploitation of women, saying that a documentary based on the Hathras gang-rape case in Uttar Pradesh has revealed several facts and evidence, but no concrete action has been taken so far, and therefore, the entire case should be reinvestigated.

Mahila Congress President Alka Lamba said at a press conference at the party headquarters here on Thursday that a Dalit girl was gang-raped in Hathras on September 14, 2020, and died on September 29. She alleged that on the night of September 30, the police performed the last rites of the body without the consent of the family, raising serious questions about the entire case. She said that the police and administration turned a deaf ear to the affected family and allegedly confined the family members to their home and did not even allow them to see their daughter's face. Ms. Lamba alleged that at that time, Lok Sabha Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were prevented from meeting the affected family. She said that if they had been allowed to reach the family at that time, the justice process could have been different.

The Congress leader said that a gynecologist featured in the documentary on the Hathras case claimed that evidence was destroyed before the victim was taken to the hospital, and she was also bathed and cleaned. She said that the documentary also revealed that the victim's spinal cord was broken and she was dragged, but she was not provided with an ambulance or a stretcher. She claimed that the victim had provided information about the incident before her death, but her statement was not given enough importance.

Ms. Lamba said that in a serious case like Hathras, questions have been raised about the role of the police, and if evidence had been collected in time and important evidence had been presented in court, the culprits could have been punished. She asked why the Uttar Pradesh police is not taking action based on the facts revealed in the documentary. She said that on March 2, 2023, the court had acquitted three out of four accused in the case. The Congress alleges that the investigation into the case was weakened, which affected justice.