Hathras Police affirm 'no media entry till SIT in village' as netas attempt to meet kin

Affirming media restriction in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras, the district's Additional SP Prakash Kumar on Friday, said that journalists' entry will be restricted into the district till the state govt appointed 3-member SIT completes its probe there. He added that no political delegations or individuals will be allowed to visit the village, due to the 'prevailing law & order situation'. The district has imposed section 144 for a month amid massive protests over the gangrape of a 19-year-old Dalit woman by four upper-caste men.

Hathras case: Victim's family allege administration blocking them from speaking to media

Police: 'Media won't be allowed till SIT is there'

Hathras horror: UP ADG now claims 'No rape'; threatens action for stoking caste tensions

Hathras victim kin: 'phones seized'

Earlier in the day, a minor from the victim's family was sent by the family members to reach out to the media anyhow and ask to connect with them. The minor revealed that they were asked to switch-off their mobiles and some mobiles are being taken from them. The minor crossed farmlands to reach the media waiting outside the entrance of the village following Section 144. As he was speaking to the media, soon a police officer came and he fled from the spot.

"They have taken the phone. My family have sent me here to call the media for speaking. I ducked down and came via the field. They are not letting us come out neither are they allowing the media to come in. They are threatening us as well," said the minor family member. Politicians from Congress, Samajwadi Party, AAP and Trinamool have clashed with police who have stopped the from entering Hathras. 

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What is the Hathras rape case?

A 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men in Hathras on September 14 in a field, leaving her in a critical condition. When her condition worsened, she was referred to AIIMS but was admitted to Safdarjung hospital in Delhi on Monday with spinal cord injuries, paralysis and cuts in her tongue. She died around 3 am on Tuesday, but her autopsy report has no mention of rape. Police have claimed that the Hathras gangrape victim was 'not raped' after the postmortem report stated 'neck injury and trauma' as the cause of death and that no traces of sperm were found in her private parts.

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The case took an ugly turn when UP police cremated the victim's body at 2:30 AM on Wednesday allegedly without the family's consent, which has been refuted by the police. The Allahabad High Court has taken a suo moto cognizance of the case and sought a response from senior state officials by October 12. Meanwhile, the Yogi govt has constituted a 3-member SIT comprising of state Home Secretary Bhagwan Swarup and members of the Dalit community and women, to probe and file a report within 7 days.