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Allahabad High Court takes suo motu cognizance of Hathras gangrape, cremation of

victim .

(Bar & Bench): The Allahabad High Court has taken suo motu cognizance over the pre-dawn

cremation of the 19-year old dalit woman who is stated to have been gangraped and mutilated

before succumbing to her injuries in Uttar Pradesh's Hathras.

The order passed by a Bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh states, "The incidents

which took place after the death of the victim on 29.09.2020 leading up to her cremation, as

alleged, have shocked our conscience, therefore, we are taking suo moto cognizance of the

same."

The Bench has also said that it will leave open the question of whether there is a necessity to

monitor the investigation or to get the investigation done by an independent agency as per

law.

The Court has directed the Senior Registrar the Court's Bench at Lucknow to register a suo

motu Public Interest Litigation with the title In Re : Right to decent and dignified last

rites/cremation and place it before the appropriate Bench having jurisdiction to hear Public

Interest Litigations.

The matter has been listed to be taken up on October 12. The family members of the victim

have also been directed to be present before the Court so that the Court can further ascertain

the facts.

The following State functionaries have been summoned to put forth their version of the case

with supporting material and to appraise the Court regarding the status of the investigation on

the next hearing date:

 The Additional Chief Secretary/Principal Secretary (Home),

 Director-General of Police,

 Additional Director General,

 Hathras District Magistrate, and

 Hathras Superintendent of Police.

Senior Advocate Jaideep Narain Mathur and Advocate Abhinav Bhattacharya have been

appointed as Amicus Curiae to assist the Court in the matter