On September 14, 2020, a Dalit girl was allegedly gangraped in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, by four men. The 19-year-old girl, who was shifted to a hospital in Delhi for treatment, died two weeks later. Her death, and her hushed cremation in the dead of the night, sent shockwaves across the nation.
It’s been four years. The Bhul Garhi village where the incident happened seems to have moved on, but for the family of the girl, nothing has changed. Everything—the accused roaming freely, the changed attitude of the villagers, the long legal battle and the CRPF jawans guarding their home day and night—reminds them of the unfortunate incident.
Ahead of the May 7 elections, while others in Hathras talked about issues like the lack of development, this family had just one plea to the government—justice for their sister.
Their hopes crashed in 2023 when the SC/ST court acquitted three of the four accused. One was held guilty of culpable homicide. The Dalit girl’s family says that with the alleged perpetrators released, justice has been denied to them. They have now approached the Allahabad High Court.
“The CBI had in their charge sheet charged them 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,” says the girl’s elder brother.
The younger brother says when her sister was found after the incident happened, her spinal cord was severely injured and her tongue had been cut off. “If no one did it, then how did it happen?”
Instead, the brothers say, that there were attempts at turning the case against them. “At one point it felt like they were accusing us of honour killing,” the say.
“When the three were released and they came home, they were welcomed with garlands and their families distributed sweets in the neighbourhood,” the elder brother says while pointing at the houses of the accused.
“They feel they are invincible now. They put their sunglasses on and ride around on their motorcycle as if they’re kings. And they taunt us saying ‘kya bigaad liya humara?’”
The Dalit family is one of the very few Dalit families in a village dominated by Thakurs and Brahmins. Survival in the village, the brothers say, has been hard after the 2020 incident.
“At first, they used to threaten us and if anyone would stand in our support, they would threaten them too. Now everyone in the village is with them. We had good relations with most people but they were very quick to turn against us. They showed us where we belong.”
Four CRPF officials are now stationed at their house at all times.
“We can’t go to work. Both of us used to work in Delhi but we had to quit and come here. My children can’t go to school. We can’t even freely walk in our neighbourhood or go to the market to buy vegetables. Everywhere we go, the CRPF officers accompany us. We are literally on house arrest. We cannot even our cattle outside,” the elder brother says.
The lives of the girl’s family members, including her parents, brothers, the elder brother’s wife, and their three children, have come to a standstill in the last four years. Now, they’re almost out of the Rs 25 lakh compensation they received in 2020.
“We don’t have jobs and we can't go and work because of safety reasons. The case is not getting anywhere. We just keep getting dates, and it feels like we are not moving forward and are actually in a position worse than when we first started this fight,” the brother says.
The family had also been promised accommodation at a safe distance but they say nothing has been allotted to them yet.
The case which was previously being fought by Seema Samridhi Kushwaha, the lawyer who fought the Delhi Nirbhaya case, is now in the hands of Advocate Mehmood
Pracha. “The government is avoiding participating in the hearing,” Advocate Pracha said.
“K Raju, who is the Additional Solicitor General of India, he has been engaged by the UP government and Union of India to represent them in the matter. He is seeking dates after dates. Sometimes he says he’s not well, sometimes he says he’s travelling,” the lawyer added.
The next court hearing has been set for July 11.
