The four accused in the Hathras gang rape and murder case were taken to Gandhinagar in Gujarat for brain mapping and polygraph tests by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on November 21, reported The Indian Express.
The four accused have been lodged in the Aligarh Jail. Alok Singh, the Superintendent at Aligarh Jail told The Hindustan Times that, “The accused will be subjected to polygraph test and brain mapping in Gandhi Nagar. They will return to the jail after the tests.”
An official of the Gandhinagar FSL informed the media, “The CBI officials came for a discussion on the polygraph and brain-mapping test of the accused for which a date will be decided soon. The accused were not brought to the FSL today (November 21)”.
PUCL’s Report
People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL), Uttar Pradesh members Kamal Singh, Farman Naqvi, Alok, Shashikant and K.B. Maurya had visited Boolgarhi village in Hathras and filed a report titled “A Black Story’ highlighting the status of the CBI investigation into the case up until now.
During a press conference on Saturday, Kamal Singh said, “When we went to meet the family, it seemed like we were going to meet a terrorist in his cell and not the family of a horrifying rape victim. The victim’s family is still not assured despite the CBI investigation. The whole family is in a kind of house arrest. Their normal social life is cut off. Family members are afraid for their lives”, The Wire reported.
The PUCL activists revealed the plight of the family members fearing for their lives once the CRPF protection is withdrawn. Kamal singh stated in the press conference, “The victim’s father has told us that he would send his sons outside to work, rather than stay in this village for security reasons. We are also concerned for the family’s safety because the nexus between the local administration, the police as well as the upper caste members of the village will go back to how it was before. I am worried for the day that the security will be withdrawn.”
SC/ST welfare panel
This also comes at a time when the members of the parliamentary committee on the welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were not allowed to visit Hathras to meet the deceased’s family members.
The Telegraph apprised that the committee had met on October 20 to discuss representation of SC/ST employees at Delhi University when some of the members requested the Chairman to permit a visit to the Hathras family. The Chairman Kirit Premjibhai Solanki, however, rejected the proposal citing jurisdictional issues.
“When the request was made to visit the victim’s family, the chairman did not agree. He said the Speaker would not agree to such a trip. He also said that a visit to the victim’s family was under the jurisdiction of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes (NCSC),” a panel source told the Telegraph.
Background
The CBI was entrusted with the investigation into the rape and murder of the Dalit teen by the Uttar Pradesh Government on October 10. The Supreme Court in Satyama Dubey and Ors v Union of India (W.P Crl. No. 296 of 2020), had directed the High Court of Allahabad to monitor the CBI probe via its order dated October 27.
“High Court would look into
Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) through its Secretary Ms. Teesta Setalvad had also moved an Intervention Application (Crl. M.P. No. 102148 of 2020) as listed third in the abovementioned Supreme Court order demanding a CBI probe, protection of witness by Central Para Military Force and appointment of a retired Supreme Court Judge to investigate the circumstances which led to the cremation of the victim on September 30.
The top court had ordered for Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) protection, a key plea in CJP’s application, for the family and witnesses as a confidence building measure. The Allahabad High Court in its earlier order dated November 2, had also sought for a status report from the CBI to be filed before the next hearing.
CJP had, through a Letter petition, dated October 9, sought to intervene in the ongoing suo moto matter in the Allahabad High Court (Lucknow bench). At the last hearing on November 2, 2020, the Letter petition was allowed and CJP is now permitted to intervene by the next date of hearing on November 25.
The matter before the High Court is expected to be heard at 3:15 pm on November 25.
Related:
CJP moves Supreme Court in Hathras case