The Hathras case continues to baffle those closely monitoring new details which have been emerging out of Uttar Pradesh’s Bulghadi village that is now seeing high voltage fissures between the victim’s family and savarnas; with the latter claiming that it is, in fact, they who have been victimised in the entire case. With time, however, the details of the case continue to get murkier, instead of the nation being served with clarity as to what actually transpired on 14 September, the day when the victim was allegedly gang-raped and physically assaulted by the four accused now under the custody of UP Police.
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 the other villagers, particularly the families of the accused, who are emphatically stating that those who have been accused are innocent.
The prime accused’s father has even gone on to say, as per a report in Jansatta, that the victim and his son were involved in a love affair, and that it was, in fact, the family of the girl – the mother and brother to be specific, who physically assaulted the victim which led to her ultimate death, in a clear indication of the families of the accused pointing towards an honour killing.
In another shocking revelation, Omkar Singh, who claims to be an eyewitness, 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.