Hours of wait, protest & cremation without family — a night in Hathras rape victim’s village

The Hathras rape victim's family members kept requesting police to allow a last look at her body but they didn't. Manisha Mondal brings you images from the night.

The Hathras victim's mother could not see her one last time, after waiting for the body for hours | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

Hathras: The 20-year-old alleged rape victim from a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh, who died Tuesday at the Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi of the injuries sustained during the assault, was cremated by the police at her native village amid protests as the family members said they were not allowed “a last look” at the body.

The woman, who belonged to a Dalit community, was allegedly gang-raped and assaulted by four men on 14 September.

The body of the woman was brought to the Hathras village around 1 am, but the police did not allow it to be taken to her house. The body was cremated near a farmland even as the family members requested them to wait for sunrise. No family member was present at the cremation.

ThePrint’s Manisha Mondal brings you images from the night.

The victim was cremated near wheat farmland a few meters away from her home | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

The 20-year-old girl’s relatives surrounded the ambulance when it did not stop near their home | Photo: Manisha Mondal |ThePrint

Women of the village came out in support of the bereaved family | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

Relatives and family members requested the police to at least let them take the body home for a few hours, but they refused | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

While the family members kept requesting the police to let them see the body once, the latter refused | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

At the victim’s house, women kept waiting for the body | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

A girl, the victim’s niece, played with bottles of nail polishes that the 20-year-old loved. She never wore dark colours, said her sister-in-law | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

Police sets the pyre for cremating the body | Photo: Manisha Mondal |ThePrint

Policemen cremate the body, with no family member around | Photo: Manisha Mondal | ThePrint