A 19-year-old girl was allegedly brutally gang-raped on September 14 in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh and died fighting for her life for two weeks in a Delhi hospital.
Amid a lot of chaos regarding actions of police, the family of the victim and sparked politics, on October 27, the Supreme Court said that the Allahabad High Court will monitor the CBI probe and the agency will file status reports there.
Here’s a timeline of the case:
September 14
According to the family, the victim went to work in the fields with her mother. After some time, the mother allegedly heard her daughter screaming and rushed to find her. She claimed to saw her lying on the ground with blood and her tongue was cut off.
They immediately went to the nearest police station. An FIR was filed against one of the accused.
The victim was then shifted to the nearest hospital and was later referred to JNMC Hospital in Aligarh.
September 19
Her statement was recorded at the hospital in which she accused two people including the one she earlier mentioned. The main accused was then arrested by the police.
September 22
As her condition worsened, the victim’s dying declaration was recorded at the hospital. In her last statement, she accused the other three people who molested her. Police filed a case against all and arrested them a few days later.
September 28
She was referred to a Delhi hospital.
September 29
The victim died in the morning. Following this, a protest erupted at the hospital and some members of Congress and Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad demanded immediate and strict action against the accused.
September 30
The Uttar Pradesh police forcefully cremated her body at around 2.30 am in the morning without the consent of the family. The UP government set up a Special Investigation Team (SIT). Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath asking him to look into the matter closely.
Adityanath, via video conferencing, talked to the victim’s family and granted compensation of Rs 25 lakh, a house and a government job.
October 1
Section 144 of the CrPC was imposed in the village of the deceased. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s visit was disrupted. The duo then decided to walk over a 100 kilometre to Hathras but was detained and escorted back to Delhi.
The post-mortem report came out the same day. The report mentioned some serious injuries in her neck.
The Allahabad High Court expressed its displeasure over the matter.
October 3
Gandhi and Vadra visited the family and the media finally entered the village. The politics soon started taking a toll on the matter as leaders of the major parties visited the place assuring help to the family.
Adityanath recommended a CBI probe into the case the same day.
October 6
In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on the Hathras case, the Uttar Pradesh government cited intelligence inputs of possible largescale violence as the reason behind her hush-hush midnight cremation.
October 8
The main accused wrote a letter to UP police saying that he was friends with the victim. He claimed that all accused were being framed in the case. He accused the victim’s mother and brother of torturing and claimed that he used to meet the victim and “used to speak on the phone once in a while”.
He indicated that the matter can be of “honour killing”. Call data records between the accused and victim’s brother reportedly showed around 104 calls made between October last year and March this year.
October 9
The Uttar Pradesh Police deployed sixty security personnel and installed eight close circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the house of the alleged gangrape victim in her village to ensure the safety of her family members.
October 10
The central government issued a notification for the CBI to take over the probe. The agency registered a case in connection with the alleged Hathras gang-rape incident.
October 12
The victim’s family appeared before the Allahabad high court. Lucknow bench of Allahabad High court fixed November 2 as next date of hearing in Hathras case.
October 13
CBI met the victim’s family and collected samples from the spot where the victim was cremated by the Uttar Pradesh police.
October 14
CBI interacted with the administration of the district hospital where the victim was initially treated.
The hospital, however, was unable to provide CCTV footage of the victim’s treatment to the CBI team, saying their footage is backed-up for only up to seven days.
October 16
Victim’s brother said that the family wants to move to Delhi for security reasons. “We want to shift to Delhi for security reasons.”
October 27
A three-judge bench headed by CJI SA Bobde said as far as transferring the case to Delhi is concerned, it is appropriate for CBI to conclude probe and it will be decided later. The Supreme Court and Allahabad HC will also ensure the security of the victim’s family and witnesses.
