In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court on the Hathras case, in which a 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped and murdered, the Uttar Pradesh government has cited intelligence inputs of possible largescale violence as the reason behind her hush-hush midnight cremation.

“The District administration convinced parents of the deceased to cremate her at night to avoid large scale violence in the morning,” the affidavit filed in the Supreme Court says, according to ANI. The affidavit cites intelligence inputs of possible assembly of lakhs of protesters and the issue being given a caste and communal colour.

The 19-year-old woman died of grievous injuries in a Delhi hospital on September 29, a fortnight after she was allegedly raped at her village by four “upper caste” men. She was cremated in the early hours of September 30. While the family says the cremation was carried out against their wishes, the police said the last rites were held “as per the wishes of the family”.

The affidavit, while detailing the investigation  carried out so far in the case, says that a “vicious campaign” has been unleashed to defame the State government adding that vested interests are attempting to ascribe motive to derail a fair probe.

The government has said that the court must direct CBI investigation into the case for free and fair investigation, reports ANI.

This comes a day after the Uttar Pradesh police filed 19 FIRs across the state over the horrific incident on charges ranging from attempt to trigger caste conflict to sedition to ‘tarnish the UP government’s image’. The slew of FIRs come amid outrage over the case that shook the nation.

The FIR lodged at Chandpa police station on Sunday mentioned 19 IPC sections, including 124A (sedition), 505 (intending to cause public alarm and inducing someone to commit offence against state or public tranquillity), 153A (promoting enmity between groups).