New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday ordered the Allahabad High Court to monitor the CBI probe into the alleged Hathras gang rape and murder case.
A bench led by Chief Justice S.A. Bobde asked the CBI to submit its status report to the High Court, which shall look into all the aspects of the case, including providing security to the woman’s family.
A 20-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four upper-caste men on 14 September. She was also allegedly assaulted by the accused and succumbed to her injuries two weeks later in a Delhi hospital.
The police had initially registered a case of attempt to murder but later added rape charges when the woman gave her statement, alleging that she had been sexually assaulted by the accused. Her autopsy report revealed spinal cord injuries, paralysis and cuts in her tongue.
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‘There should be no apprehension about mistrial’
SC’s order came on a batch of petitions that sought a court-monitored CBI probe into the incident.
The woman’s family had called for the investigation to be transferred to Delhi, but the top court said that since the CBI was investigating it, there should be no apprehension about a mistrial.
The bench, however, said the plea will be kept open and would be taken up, if needed, after the probe is complete.
The UP government had already recommended a CBI probe into the case even though it continues to deny that the woman was raped. It had also requested the top court to oversee the investigation into the case. The CBI officially took over the probe on 10 October.
The court also directed that security to the Hathras victim’s family and the witnesses shall be provided by the CRPF within a week. The UP police had put in place a three-fold mechanism for the security of the victim’s family.
On Solicitor General Tushar Mehta’s request the bench also directed the Allahabad High Court to delete the name of the woman from its orders in a PIL related to the incident.
“On the issue raised by the Solicitor General regarding the name of the victim and family members being depicted in the Allahabad HC order, it is requirement in law to avoid such disclosure, HC is requested to strike off the same and avoid the same in future,” the court ordered.
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