Awaiting justice 4 years on, Hathras victim's family holds on to her ashes

AGRA: Exactly four years after the murder and alleged sexual assault of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras, on Sept 14, 2020, the family has left the ashes of the victim unimmersed. They told TOI that they are still waiting for justice. They added that they continue to live in "jail-like conditions", with restrictions on where they go and whom they meet, surrounded 24x7 by security personnel.They alleged that promises made by the govt - of a job for a family member and a house - have remained unfulfilled.
Three of the accused were acquitted and a fourth sentenced to life imprisonment. By releasing the alleged perpetrators, justice has been denied to them, said the family.
They have now approached the Allahabad HC. "In the chargesheet, CBI had charged the accused with rape and attempt to murder, so how can their charges be dropped? Our sister's statements, the ones she gave on her deathbed, were also not considered valid. She was hurriedly cremated by authorities in the middle of the night," said the girl's elder brother.
Her younger brother pointed out that when his sister was found after the gruesome crime, her spinal cord was severely injured and her tongue had been cut off. "If no one did it, how did it happen?"
Instead, the brothers say there were attempts at turning the case against them. At one point, it felt like they were accusing us of honour killing. The elder brother added: "When the three were released and they came home, they were welcomed with garlands and their families distributed sweets in the neighbourhood. They feel they are invincible now."
Survival in the village, the brothers say, has been hard. "At first, they used to threaten us and if anyone would stand in our support, they would threaten them too. Now it seems everyone in the village is with them," the younger brother said.
Four CRPF officials are stationed at their house at all times. "Wherever we go, the CRPF officers accompany us. We're literally under house arrest. And the (court) case is going nowhere," he added.
In March 2023, the Supreme Court ticked off the UP govt for challenging the order of the Allahabad HC directing the state to implement its promise to provide employment to a kin of the victim and rehabilitate her family outside at a place within the state, other than Hathras.
A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala chided the state govt for filing the appeal. “How can the govt appeal against such an order of the HC? It was a gruesome case of gang-rape in which the victim succumbed to her injuries. If that is the statutory relief promised by the state, how can it renege from it? In the facts and circumstances of the case, it does not warrant interference,” it had observed.
The Bhul Garhi village where the incident happened seems to have moved on though, but the lives of the girl's family -- her grandmother, parents, brothers, the elder brother's wife and their three children -- have come to a complete standstill in the four years. Due to "no work" and "feeding the large family", they have almost run out of the Rs 25 lakh compensation they had received in 2020, they added.
"We will continue to fight for justice and to preserve my sister's ashes until it is served," added the victim's elder brother.