A Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe special court on Thursday, March 2, exonerated three of the four accused in the case of the 2020 gang-rape and torture of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh. None of the accused was found guilty of gang rape.

On September 14, 2020, a Dalit woman, 19, was raped by four “upper-caste” men in Hathras. Fifteen days later she died at Delhi`s Safdarjung Hospital on September 29 where she was undergoing treatment. 

Three accused — Ramu, Lavkush, and Ravi — were cleared of all charges, while Sandeep was found guilty of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and of violating the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The UP Police and government were accused of forcibly cremating her body in the dead of night without the family`s permission or their presence after her mortal remains were returned to her home, leading to a nation-wide stir, LiveLaw reported.

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The Allahabad High Court took suo-motu cognizance of the incident and the forced cremation on October 1, 2020.

The High Court had stated, “The incidents which took place after the death of the victim on 29.09.2020 leading up to her cremation, as alleged, have shocked our conscience, therefore, we are taking suo moto cognizance of the same.”

The Allahabad High Court transferred the case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on October 10. The charge-sheet against each of the four accused men was subsequently submitted by the CBI in December 2020.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court also received a number of public interest lawsuits, many of which sought witness protection and an independent into the case.

LiveLaw has reported that none of the four accused have been found guilty of the offence of gang-rape by the special court. In the victim’s dying declaration before the district magistrate, she had named and accused three men – Luv Kush, Ravi and Ramu – of sexual assault.

The chargesheet filed by the CBI had faulted the Uttar Pradesh Police for ignoring the woman’s statement.

The CBI chargesheet had stated: “During her examination on September 22, the victim categorically stated that she was gangraped by the four accused persons; she also named them in her dying declaration… It establishes that on September 14, the victim was gangraped at the bajra field when she was alone. Investigation also revealed that all four accused were present in the village or nearby place, which corroborates the allegation of the victim.”

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