Hathras gangrape: CBI seeks more time to complete inquiry, HC fixes January 27 as next hearing date

Source:-https://scroll.in

The Central Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday sought more time from the Allahabad High Court to conclude its investigation into the Hathras gangrape case, reported PTI. The Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court fixed January 27 as the next date of hearing.

The central agency also failed to submit any status report of the probe.

On November 25, the CBI had told the Allahabad High Court that its inquiry would be over by December 10. CBI counsel Anurag Singh had said that the investigation was taking time as forensic reports were awaited.

The case pertains to the gangrape of a 19-year-old Dalit woman by four upper-caste Thakur men on September 14. The woman succumbed to her injuries at a hospital in Delhi on September 29. The incident garnered more attention after the woman was cremated in the dead of the night near her home on September 30 without the presence of her family members.

In October, the Supreme Court had directed the Allahabad High Court to monitor the CBI investigation. Earlier in the month, the Allahabad High Court had taken suo motu cognisance of the case and the events leading up to the woman’s cremation. It had said the government’s decision to cremate the woman in the middle of the night, even though done in the name of the law and order situation, was prima facie an infringement upon the human rights of the victim and her family.