Mayawati slams Congress netas for 'vote-bank politics'; asks 'why silent in Rajasthan?'

Slamming the Congress for resorting to 'vote-bank politics' amid the deteriorating law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati has warned people from believing in them. Without taking names, Mayawati said that like UP, crimes against Dalits and women are at a peak in Rajasthan as well, but the Congress leaders are tight-lipped about it. She opined that the silence of Congress leaders show that they do not care about justice but are only camping in Uttar Pradesh for vote-bank politics. 

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Hathras Accused claim 'innocence'

The four accused - Sandeep, Luv Kush, Ravi and Ramu have written a letter on Thursday alleging that they are innocent and that false charges of murder, physical assault, and atrocities against SC/ST were levied against them in the Hathras case. The letter which has been addressed to the Hathras SP claims that the main accused and the victim knew each other and that her family allegedly beat her up as they did not approve of their 'friendship'. 

What has the family claimed?

The mother has stated that she along with her daughter and son had visited the field to find fodder when she found that her daughter was missing. After searching, she allegedly found one of her slippers by the side of the road and later her daughter lying bleeding in the fields, hurt. After rushing to the district hospital, the victim was transferred to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh - with the Hathras police registered a case of attempt to murder - arresting all four accused. The family has been provided heightened security and has demanded a judicial probe into the case.

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Hathras case investigation 

The victim succumbed to her injuries and her autopsy report read spinal cord injuries, paralysis and cuts in her tongue with no mention of rape. Citing it, the police has claimed that the victim was 'not raped' highlighting that 'neck injury and trauma' were mentioned as the cause of death and that no traces of sperm were found in her private parts. The case took an ugly turn when UP police cremated the victim's body at 2:30 AM on September 30, allegedly without the family's consent, which has been refuted by the police. 

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The UP govt has suspended five police officers including the district's Police Superintendent (SP) Vikrant Vir for the 'midnight funeral', after the CM's 3-member SIT's recommendation. Now, the case been transferred to the CBI on CM Adityanath's recommendation, but the SIT continues to probe. The government has also filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court demanding an SC-monitored CBI probe while contending that 'no sexual assault occurred', headed preferably by a retired judge and filed FIRs alleging 'criminal conspiracy to incite caste riots'.

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