In an affidavit, the woman’s brother alleged that the family and lawyers were intimidated during the March 5 hearing at the Hathras court.
New Delhi: Responding to an affidavit filed by the brother of the 20-year-old Hathras gang-rape and murder victim, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Saturday said that it will consider shifting the trial out of the western UP district. The woman’s brother had alleged earlier this month that his family and their lawyers were receiving threats during the hearing at the Hathras trial court.
In his affidavit, the woman’s brother alleged that the family and lawyers were intimidated during the March 5 hearing at the Hathras court. The victim’s brother had alleged that the presiding judge of the Hathras district court, where the trial is currently going on, was forced to stop the proceedings on March 5 after “an advocate named Tarun Hari Sharma (under the influence of alcohol), stormed into the courtroom and charged towards the applicant and the complainant counsel, shouting and issuing threats”.
that a two-judge bench of the high court asked for a report of the alleged incident at the Hathras court, and that it will take a decision on shifting the case out of western UP after looking at the report. The bench also said that the CBI also had shown an inclination to file an application to transfer the trial from “District Hathras to elsewhere, within the State”.
In its order, the bench also described in detail about the content of the affidavit, which points at imminent threats to Seema Khushwaha, the lead counsel for the victim’s family. Khushwaha has been unable to appear at the Hathras court ever since the incident happened.The victim’s brother also said in his affidavit that “a large mob, including lawyers, entered the courtroom and surrounded the applicant and the complainant’s counsel in order to threaten and intimidate them”.
The Allahabad high court on April 7 had asked the Hathras district judge to ensure that the trial was conducted in a free and fair manner without any “outside hindrance”.
The Dalit woman was
allegedly raped by four men belonging to the Thakur community on
September 14, following which she died at a Delhi hospital. The
controversy was further exacerbated when UP police personnel cremated
her in the middle of the night on September 30, allegedly without the
consent of her family, although the UP government officials maintain
that her cremation was done “as per the wishes of the family”.
The four accused have been arrested by the CBI.
SOURCE ; THE WIRE
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