The%20Lucknow%20Bench%20of%20Allahabad%20High%20Court%20on%20Monday%20virtually%20put%20top%20officials%20of%20the%20Uttar%20Pradesh%20Government%20in%20the%20dock%20for%20making%20a%20mess%20of%20the%20Hathras%20gang-rape%20and%20murder%20case.

The%20case%20had%20come%20up%20for%20hearing%20after%20the%20court%20took%20suo-motto%20cognizance%20of%20the%20issue%20last%20week%20following%20media%20and%20newspaper%20reports%20that%20raised%20very%20pertinent%20questions%20on%20the%20manner%20in%20which%20the%20victim%20was%20treated%20not%20only%20after%20the%20alleged%20rape%20but%20even%20after%20she%20died.

%u201CWould%20you%20have%20just%20burnt%20away%20the%20dead%20body%20if%20the%20victim%20was%20someone%20from%20a%20well-to-do%20family%2C%u201D%20the%20bench%2C%20comprising%20Justice%20Pankaj%20Mithal%20and%20Justice%20Rajan%20Roy%2C%20pointedly%20asked%20Hathras%20district%20magistrate%20Praveen%20Kumar%20%2C%20who%20literally%20fumbled%20for%20words%20in%20giving%20a%20reply.

The%20court%20was%20referring%20to%20the%20forcible%20cremation%20that%20was%20carried%20out%20well%20at%202.30%20am%20in%20the%20absence%20of%20%26nbsp%3Bany%20member%20of%20the%20girl%u2019s%20family%2C%20who%20were%20not%20allowed%20to%20even%20get%20anywhere%20close%20to%20her%20funeral%20pyre%20hurriedly%20prepared%20by%20cops%2C%20who%20allegedly%20sprinkled%20some%20sanitizer%20to%20speed%20up%20the%20burning%20of%20the%20body.

It%20may%20be%20recalled%20that%20the%20victim%2C%20a%2019-year%20old%20Dalit%20girl%20was%20allegedly%20gang-raped%20and%20brutalised%20by%20four%20upper%20caste%20young%20Thakur%20men%20on%20September%2014%20in%20%26nbsp%3BBoolagarhi%20village%20of%20Hathras%20district%2C%20about%20200%20km%20from%20the%20national%20capital%2C%20Delhi.%20The%20girl%20was%20taken%20from%20hospital%20to%20hospital%20until%20she%20breathed%20her%20last%20on%20September%2029%20in%20Delhi%u2019s%20Safdarjung%20Hospital%20where%20she%20was%20shifted%20barely%20a%20day%20earlier.

The%20court%20gave%20a%20patient%20hearing%20to%20the%20victim%u2019s%20parents%2C%20who%20openly%20accused%20the%20district%20magistrate%20and%20the%20police%20of%20neither%20allowing%20them%20even%20a%20last%20glimpse%20of%20their%20daughter%u2019s%20body%2C%20nor%20permit%20them%20to%20be%20present%20at%20the%20so-called%20cremation%2C%20that%20was%20completely%20devoid%20of%20basic%20Hindu%20rites%20and%20ritual.%20The%20girl%u2019s%20family%20could%20muster%20up%20courage%20to%20speak%20freely%20before%20the%20court.%20And%20in%20his%20candid%20deposition%2C%20the%20girl%u2019s%20father%20disclosed%20how%20the%20district%20magistrate%20had%20allegedly%20intimidated%20them.%20%26nbsp%3B

According%20to%20the%20father%2C%20when%20the%20DM%20came%20to%20his%20house%20with%20the%20chief%20minister%u2019s%20compensation%20package%2C%20he%20said%2C%20%u201CYou%20are%20getting%20Rs%2025%20lakhs%20from%20the%20chief%20minister%u2019s%20fund%3B%20do%20you%20think%20you%20would%20have%20got%20that%20if%20your%20daughter%20had%20died%20due%20to%20corona%3F%u201D

The%20court%20sought%20to%20know%20whether%20the%20district%20magistrate%20and%20superintendent%20of%20police%20acted%20on%20instructions%20from%20their%20superiors%20in%20Lucknow.%20However%2C%20%26nbsp%3Bboth%20the%20DM%20as%20well%20as%20district%20superintendent%20of%20police%20Vikrant%20Vir%20came%20in%20defence%20of%20their%20top%20bosses%2C%20claiming%20that%20they%20did%20not%20consider%20it%20necessary%20to%20take%20anybody%u2019s%20clearance.%20They%20claimed%20that%20their%20actions%20were%20based%20on%20the%20situation%20of%20the%20moment.

That%20clearly%20came%20in%20sharp%20contrast%20to%20the%20common%20impression%20that%20orders%20for%20the%20post-midnight%20cremation%20at%202.30%20am%20on%20September%2030%2C%20had%20come%20from%20the%20highest%20level.

Summoned%20by%20the%20court%2C%20state%20director%20general%20of%20police%20Hitesh%20Chandra%20Awasthi%2C%20additional%20chief%20secretary%20%28Home%29%20Avanish%20Kumar%20Awasthi%20and%20additional%20director%20general%20of%20police%20%28Law%20%26amp%3B%20Order%29%20Prashant%20Kumar%20were%20present%20in%20the%20court%20throughout%20the%20hearing%2C%20together%20with%20lower%20district%20officials%20from%20Hathras.

Prashant%20Kumar%2C%20who%20was%20grilled%20by%20the%20judges%2C%20told%20the%20court%20that%20all%20his%20concentration%20was%20on%20ensuring%20that%20the%20situation%20did%20not%20go%20out%20of%20control.%20He%20also%20apprised%20the%20court%20that%20he%20had%20serious%20intelligence%20inputs%20about%20a%20conspiracy%20being%20hatched%20to%20incite%20caste%20violence%20which%20would%20have%20meant%20a%20serious%20law%20and%20order%20problem%20in%20the%20village.%20He%20sought%20to%20justify%20the%20post-midnight%20cremation%20by%20claiming%20that%20crowds%20had%20already%20collected%20in%20the%20village%20and%20the%20situation%20could%20have%20worsened%20by%20the%20morning.

Responding%20to%20the%20government%u2019s%20plea%2C%20the%20court%20fixed%20November%202%20as%20the%20date%20for%20the%20next%20hearing.

However%2C%20it%20may%20be%20pertinent%20to%20mention%20that%20the%20Yogi%20Adityanath%20government%20has%20not%20only%20handed%20over%20the%20case%20to%20CBI%20but%2C%20in%20a%20surprise%20move%2C%20it%20%26nbsp%3Bhas%20also%20called%20for%20a%20Supreme%20Court%20monitored%20CBI%20probe.%20That%20was%20followed%20by%20a%20counter-offensive%20launched%20by%20chief%20minister%20Yogi%20Adityanath%2C%20who%20has%20gone%20to%20the%20extent%20of%20blaming%20it%20all%20on%20some%20%u201Cinternational%20conspiracy%20to%20incite%20caste%20and%20communal%20violence%20in%20the%20state.%u201D

Significantly%2C%20the%20chief%20minister%u2019s%20move%20coincides%20with%20his%20police%u2019s%20bid%20to%20vehemently%20refute%20rape%20or%20gang-rape.%20The%20police%20as%20well%20as%20the%20entire%20administrative%20machinery%20was%20out%20to%20dilute%20the%20case%20by%20floating%20all%20kinds%20of%20stories%20which%20sound%20more%20like%20an%20orchestrated%20smear%20campaign%20against%20the%20rape%20victim.%20While%20alleging%20that%20she%20was%20having%20an%20affair%20with%20the%20key%20accused%2C%20the%20UP%20police%20was%20also%20moving%20heaven%20and%20earth%20%26nbsp%3Bto%20give%20the%20case%20a%20twist%20of%20%u201Chonour%20killing%u201D.

That%20is%20a%20stark%20reminder%20of%20how%20facts%20were%20twisted%20in%20a%20similar%20manner%20by%20the%20then%20Akhilesh%20Yadav%20government%20to%20turn%20the%20infamous%20gang-rape%20of%20two%20teen-aged%20Dalit%20sisters%20in%20Budaun%20into%20a%20case%20of%20suicide%20way%20back%20in%202014.%20The%20bodies%20of%20the%20two%20girls%20were%20found%20hanging%20from%20a%20tree%20barely%20half%20a%20kilometer%20from%20their%20homes.

And%20just%20as%20in%20the%20Hathras%20case%20the%20alleged%20perpetrators%20of%20the%20heinous%20crime%20were%20upper%20caste%20Thakurs%20%u2013%20considered%20close%20to%20the%20ruling%20dispensation%20%u2013%20the%20alleged%20rapists%20in%20the%20Budaun%20case%20belonged%20to%20the%20then%20ruling%20caste%20of%20Yadavs.