Day after day, new facets are being revealed in the Hathras case. In the latest development, the main accused has written a letter to the Superintendent of Police that he was the friend of the girl and he did not beat her. He has blamed the mother and brother of the girl for beating the girl, which led to her death.
Sandeep, the main accused, said that he met the girl in the field on September 14, and later came to know that she was beaten by the brother and mother. The letter, which is being circulated on social media, has many startling revelations and the police said that it is checking the authenticity of the letter. The letter has the thumb impression of the main accused, Sandeep, his friend Lavkush, two of Sandeep’s uncles- Ravi and Ramu. All four accused have demanded a fair probe of the matter.
“I have got the letter copy through social media. Haven’t got the original copy so far. Might be given to the media through their family members who went inside to meet them or through jailer of Aligarh Jail,’ said SP Vineet Jaiswal adding “once I get the original copy, I will be in the position to give the statement on this.”
While a CBI probe has been recommended by the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath into the case, the victim’s family, as reported earlier, has made known its stiff opposition to the same, while also having refused to undergo a narco-polygraph test. Such manoeuvres on the part of the victim’s family have not gone down well with other villagers, particularly the families of the accused, who are emphatically stating that those accused are innocent.
Omkar Singh, who claims to be an eyewitness in the Hathras case, had indicated a possible ‘honour killing’ angle to the entire case, alleging that it was, in fact, the mother and brother of the victim who physically assaulted the girl. When asked why her own family would so brutally assault their girl, Omkar Singh said that Sandeep and the victim were involved in a romantic affair. Interestingly, the Jansatta report also mentions Sandeep’s father saying that the enmity between the two families was long-existent and that the victim’s family killed their own daughter due to her romantic involvement with Sandeep.
Meanwhile, Zee News got hold of call records of the victim’s family, which showed that a number registered in the name of the victim’s elder brother had shared a call history of over five hours with the phone number of Sandeep between October 2019 and March 2020. When asked as to whether he ever spoke to Sandeep over the phone, the victim’s brother categorically denied. This serves as proof that Sandeep, who now stands accused of rape and murder, was quite possibly romantically involved with the victim.
The father of prime accused Sandeep has said that if his son is indeed guilty, then he should be shot, also adding that they were ready to undergo the narco-polygraph test which the victim’s family was opposing. The honour killing angle to the Hathras case now seems to be getting traction, even as there are revelations of the victim and accused being involved in an affair, further cementing the possibility of an honour killing. A thorough investigation by the CBI seems like the only way further clarity will emerge in this case which has become a focal point of Indian discourse over the past few days.