Hathras gang rape: SHO shunted for lacking promptness, says top cop

HATHRAS: The station house officer of Chandpa police station in Hathras district under whose jurisdiction a 19-year-old Dalit woman was gang-raped nearly a fortnight ago, has been transferred to the district police lines, an official said on Sunday.

"Chandpa SHO D K Verma has been sent to police lines for his failure to promptly acting in the case," said Hathras Superintendent of Police Vikrant Vir.

The SP added that some Provincial Armed Constabulary personnel too have been deployed in the area as a precautionary measure to ensure that the matter does not get aggravated due to the gang-rape of the Dalit women.

All the named accused in the case have also been arrested, the SP said. The woman was raped by four men belonging to a village in Chandpa police station area on September 14.

The accused had also tried to strangulate her to death as she resisted their attempt and in the process, she had also ended up biting her tongue and suffering a severe cut on it.

After the gang-rape, the victim had been admitted to the J N Medical College and Hospital in Aligarh, where her condition was described by officials on Saturday as critical.

The woman's father, however, on Sunday, described his daughter's condition as "satisfactory" and also expressed satisfaction over the medical treatment meted out to her at the hospital.

He also expressed disinclination to shift his daughter to AIIMS, Delhi, saying "whenever we feel that it is necessary to take her to Delhi, we will tell the administration".

Meanwhile, the Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Sunday condemned the gang-rape of the women, saying no woman from any community is safe in Uttar Pradesh and asked the state government to pay attention to it.

"A Dalit girl in UP's Hathras district was severely beaten up and then was gang-raped, which is extremely-shameful and extremely-condemnable," Mayawati tweeted in Hindi.

"Daughters and sisters even from other sections of the society are not safe in the state. The government must pay attention to it. This is the BSP's demand," she added.