Hathras Case: Allahabad HC Raps Administration Over Late-Night Cremation; Will Yogi Govt Sack Hathras DM?

Hathras Case: The court also questioned the state government's action only against the then SP and not the DM.

Lucknow: Family members of the 19-year-old Dalit woman, who died after allegedly being gang-raped by four men in Hathras district, arrive to appear in the High Court, in Lucknow, Monday, Oct. 12, 2020. (PTI Photo/Nand Kumar)

Hathras Case: The Uttar Pradesh police and administration was rapped up by Allahabad High Court on Tuesday over the late-night cremation of Hathras victim who died after alleged gang-rape by four upper-caste men. The High Court in a stern tone declared the cremation as a violation of human rights for which responsibility should be fixed. Following the Court’s statement, speculations have begun on whether the Yogi government will now take an action against the DM of Hathras. The court questioned the state government's action only against the then SP and not the DM. Hathras DM  Praveen Kumar Laxkar has been mired in controversy because of the hurried late-night cremation of the victim without handing over the body to the family to perform the rituals. Making matters worse for him, another video of Laxkar surfaced online, where he seemed to be issuing a veiled threat to the victim's family. The next hearing in the case is on November 2, when the suspended Hathras Superintendent of Police Vikrant Vir has also been asked to appear in court. The court said the cremation without following rituals violated the victim's human rights as well as those of her family and relatives. The state administration had argued that the cremation took place in a hurled manner because it feared law and order problems. But the court was not satisfied with the district magistrate's explanation. We do not find any good reason on behalf of the administration as to why they could not hand over the body to the family members for some time, say for even half an hour, to enable them to perform their rituals at home and thereafter to cremate it either in the night or the next day," the bench observed. Also Watch:  The division bench of Justice Pankaj Mithal and Justice Rajan Roy reminded the officials about the definition of rape and pulled up Additional Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar and Hathras District Magistrate Praveen Kumar Laxkar for suggesting on the basis of a forensic report that the woman was not raped. The court also directed the state government to lay down modalities for cremation in Hathras-like situations. It has been a month since the 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped by four men. She died at a Delhi hospital a fortnight after her alleged rape.  She was cremated in the middle of the night in her village. Family members claimed that the cremation, which took place well past midnight, was without their consent and they were not allowed to bring home the body one last time. The incident sparked nationwide protests and led to wide scale criticism of the Yogi Adityanath government.