CBI pulls Hathras gang-rape case complaint from website within hours

Uttar Pradesh Police personnel stand guard outside the family house of a 19-year-old woman, who was allegedly gang-raped by four men, at Bool Garhi village in Hathras. Pic/AFP

Hours after putting the Hathras rape case FIR on its website, the CBI removed it sensing possible violation of a Supreme Court order that FIRs in cases of rape and sexual assault, including those against minors, should not be put in public domain by police.

The agency, however, did not retract or remove its media statement from the website.

The FIR withheld the name of the Hathras victim, concealed using a whitening ink, but it was decided to withdraw it from public domain to avoid unnecessary controversy, sources said.

In December, 2018, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice Madan B Lokur directed the print and electronic media to not reveal the identity of victims of rape and sexual assault "even in a remote manner".

The top court said FIRs in cases of rape and sexual assault, including those against minors, should not be put in public domain by police.

The issue had cropped up when the court was hearing a batch of petitions filed after the rape and murder of a paramedic student on December 16, 2012, in New Delhi to support the initiatives on women's safety across the country.

The CBI took over the investigation from UP police into alleged gangrape and murder of a Dalit woman in a village in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh on September 14 after registering an FIR early Sunday under IPC sections related to gang rape and murder among others, and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, officials said.

It assigned the case to its Ghaziabad unit with a special team to investigate the crime, they said.

The 19-year old woman succumbed to injuries at a Delhi hospital on September 29, which was followed by a hushed up cremation at night allegedly forced by the district administration. The UP government later requested a CBI probe.

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