Hathras SP, DSP, other officials suspended amid outrage over gangrape, murder of 19-year-old girl
The Yogi Adityanath administration in Uttar Pradesh on Friday suspended Hathras SP Vikrant Veer, DSP, inspector and other officials amid outrage over gangrape and murder of 19-year-old girl and said that narco polygraph tests of SP and DSP will also be conducted, UP Chief Minister's Office informed. The victim girl was allegedly gangraped by a group of men in Hathras and succumbed to injuries in a Delhi hospital caused after a brutal torture by the accused.
The Yogi administration has also suspended other cops including: Circle officer Ram Shabd, Inspector Dinesh Kumar Verma, Sub-Inspector Jagveer Singh and head constable Mahesh Pal. Now, Shamli SP Vineet Jaiswal will take charge of Hathras district. All these officers will have to undergo a narco test, along with family members of the deceased, to ascertain the truth behind the incident since both have been giving contradictory statements regarding the incident, said Additional Chief Secretary, Home Avanish Awasthi.
Meanwhile, as protests intensify across the country, activists took out a candlelight vigil on Friday to pay homage to the victim who was gang-raped in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras and demanded justice for her.
At the same time, Hathras village has been turned into fortress with a heavy presence of police as media or any political delegation not being allowed to meet victim's family members.
An investigation in the case is underway while Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has already announced Rs 25 lakh ex-gratia and a government job for victim's family member. Earlier in the day, CM Adityanath had said his government is committed to women's safety and those who even think of harming their self-respect will face total destruction.
The warning came days after the 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly gang-raped in Hathras by four men. She died at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on Tuesday morning. While her family maintained that the victim had been subjected to gang rape, top police officials in Lucknow claimed that rape had not been proved in the autopsy report.
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