While outrage over the gang rape-murder case of a Dalit woman in Hathras continues, a six-year-old girl from the same district Hathras, who was allegedly raped by her relative, died during treatment at a Delhi hospital.
After her death, the victim’s family sat with her body on the main road in Hathras in protest against the failure of the police to arrest the primary accused. (Photo: India Today)
While the fire over the alleged gangrape and murder of a 19-year-old woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras is still burning, a case of a six-year-old child being raped has come from the same district.
The Hathras child died during treatment at the Safdurjung Hospital in Delhi on Monday.
The minor was reportedly held captive at a relative’s house in Iglas area of Aligarh district and raped last month.
She was rescued by the police on September 17 after a local social organisation raised alarm.
An FIR was registered by police on September 21 on the complaint of the girl’s father, a resident of a village in Hathras district, that he suspected the girl was raped in captivity. Police then arrested the 15-year-old relative who reportedly confessed to his crime.
Police have said the victim’s maternal aunt was an accomplice to the crime and is currently absconding.
The girl was admitted to the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College in Aligarh. She was shifted to the Safdurjung Hospital in Delhi after her condition worsened four days ago and she succumbed to her injuries on Monday.
Angered over the police inaction in the case, the victim’s family and locals staged a protest on the main road of Hathras. The family claimed that they will not cremate the body till the Iglas SHO is suspended.
The victim’s father also alleged that his other daughter is also being kept captive at the maternal aunt’s house and the police have arrested the wrong accused as of now.
After persuasion by senior police officials, they agreed to conduct the last rites.
The SSP said the Iglas police station SHO has been suspended for negligence.
He also said two police teams have been constituted to trace the woman.
The incident has come to light amid widespread outrage over the death and alleged gangrape of a Dalit woman in Hathras by four “upper caste” men and the Uttar Pradesh administration’s response to the incident.