The Hathras victim’s fundamental right of decent cremation was infringed upon by authorities, the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court said in its order issued after hearing on Monday.
The body of a 19-year-old Dalit woman, who died after being allegedly gang-raped by four upper-caste men in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras, was cremated at around 2.45 am on September 30 by authorities. The District Magistrate of Hathras, Praveen Kumar Laxkar, on Monday, told the court that the body was cremated to control law and order situation.
The bench of justices Pankaj Mithal and Rajan Roy, which heard the testimonies of the victim’s family as well as Hathras DM and UP ADG Law and Order, said that it has so far not been given a good reason “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 next day.”
The HC order, a copy of which is available with India Today, said, “The victim was at least entitled to decent cremation in accordance with her religious customs and rituals which essentially are to be performed by her family.”
“This action [hurried cremation] of the state authorities, though in the name of law and order situation, is prima facie an infringement upon the human rights of the victim and her family,” HC order read.
Fundamental rights vs law and order
The high court said the authorities must respect the fundamental right of a decent burial when pitted against considerations of maintenance of law and order
“Sensitivities of the people which the constitution recognises as fundamental rights such as a right to decent burial/cremation as per traditions and customs followed by the family, have to be respected and if considerations of maintenance of law and order are pitted against such valuable rights, the situation needs to be handled deftly and responsibly on a proper appreciation of both the aspects as such valuable rights cannot be trampled or trifled casually or whimsically especially when those likely to be deprived are of the downtrodden class, uneducated and poor,” the HC order read.
“The guiding principle of governance and administration, after independence, should be to ‘serve’ and ‘protect’ people and not to ‘rule’ and ‘control’ as was the case prior to independence. Government should come out with appropriate procedures as guidance for district officials to deal with such situations,” the court said.
Court directs UP govt to ensure safety, security of victim’s family
In its order, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court directed the UP government to ensure the safety and security of the victim’s family.
As per requests filed by Seema Kushwaha, the counsel representing the victim’s family, the court has directed that the SIT/CBI investigation shall be kept fully confidential and no report will be leaked.
The HC has asked the state government to release the compensation due to the victim’s family at the earliest. In the event they refuse, it shall be deposited in a bank and may be utilised according to directions of the high court.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for November 2.