Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath/FILE
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday slammed politicisation of the alleged Hathras rape and murder case. Smelling conspiracies in the case, Adityanath called for recognising those who are doing politics on the death of the 19-year-old Dalit victim.
"People who have been dividing the society on the basis of caste, religion and region, are still doing it. They can't see development, and so they are hatching new conspiracies. One must recognise those who are doing politics on the death of a person," he told news agency ANI.
The Adityanath-led government is battling severe criticism for its handling of the case, particularly after the local police burnt the girl's body in dark of night without the family's approval. However, officials said the cremation was done "as per the wishes of the family".
The government has claimed that some people were trying to foment caste tensions in the aftermath of the alleged rape of the woman by four "upper caste" men on September 14. Quoting an FSL report, it has denied the rape charge.
In an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in response to a PIL, the government said there have been "orchestrated efforts to malign the image of government on social media by attributing baseless comments and building up a distorted narrative on the Hathras case”.
The woman died on September 29 of the grievous injuries she suffered during the assault.
