Main accused in Hathras ‘rape’ writes to cop, claims woman’s mother & brothers killed her

Sandeep Thakur says the woman’s family members ‘beat her up over our friendship’ & falsely accused him. The woman’s family has denied all the allegations.

UP Police in Boolgarhi village on the night of the cremation of the 20-year-old woman | Manisha Mondal | ThePrint

New Delhi: The main accused in the alleged Hathras gang rape and murder case, Sandeep Thakur, has written to the UP Police, claiming they are being framed. 

In a letter addressed to the Hathras SP Wednesday, Sandeep, who was the first among the four suspects to be arrested — after the 20-year-old woman’s statement to the police — has accused her brothers and mother of torturing and killing her. 

“They sent the letter to the Superintendent of Police, Hathras, yesterday (Wednesday) evening. As per law, we have sent it to the SP. They have put forth their version. Now the investigating agencies will look into it,” Senior Superintendent of Aligarh jail, Alok Singh, told reporters Thursday.

Sandeep claimed he was “friends” with the woman and they would speak on the phone apart from meeting. The girl’s family, however, didn’t like their “friendship”, Sandeep said. 

The woman’s family has denied all the allegations by Sandeep.

The woman was allegedly gang-raped on 14 September and died of her injuries two weeks later at New Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital.

Sandeep was arrested on 14 September, while the remaining accused — his uncle Ravi Singh, Luvkush Thakur, and Ram Kumar — were arrested subsequently. All four of them have been booked under IPC sections of rape, murder, and under provisions of the SC/ST Act.

The woman, in her last statement to police, named the four men, accusing them of raping and strangulating her. 

According to police, call detail records have revealed that 104 calls were exchanged from last October to March this year between the phone of the woman’s elder brother and Sandeep.

ThePrint had reported the alleged “affair” and “honour killing” narrative by local residents of the Boolgarhi village. 

Sandeep’s family had claimed he was providing water to the cows when the incident happened, while Luvkush’s father had said he provided water to the girl when she was first found. Other villagers had said Ram had gone to the factory where he worked when the girl was assaulted. 

‘Get us justice’

Sandeep, in the letter, claimed that though he had gone to “meet her in the fields” on the day of the incident, he returned home after the girl asked him to go back.  

“On the day of the incident, I had gone to meet her in the fields that day where her mother and brothers were also present. I returned home after being asked by her to do so. I then started feeding cattle,” his letter read.

“Later, I got to know from the villagers that her mother and brothers beat her up over our friendship, injuring her grievously. I have never beaten her or done anything wrong with her. Her mother and brothers falsely accused me and the others, sending us to jail. We’re all innocent. Hence, we request you to please investigate the case and get us justice,” he added in the letter, which has the thumb impressions of all the four accused.

The SIT set up by the Yogi Adityanath government has got an extension of another 10 days to probe the matter. Set up on 30 September, the SIT initially got seven days to submit its report.

‘A strategy to scare us’

The woman’s family has, however, rejected all the claims made by Sandeep and alleged that it is a “conspiracy” to malign them.

“This is all a strategy to scare us and create obstacles for us, but we will keep fighting for justice. These accused are very cunning, they will say anything now,” one of the brothers told ThePrint. 

Asked about the call detail records, the brother said that none of the family members ever spoke to the accused’s family.