'No rape in Hathras case': Senior UP cop cites forensic report

The 20-year-old woman from Hathras, who died during treatment in Delhi on Tuesday (September 29), was not raped, say Uttar Pradesh police, referring to a forensic report of her viscera which mentioned “tears in her private parts”.

So far, it has been known that the woman died after being gang raped and tortured by four upper caste men on September 14. She was strangled, brutalised and suffered cervical spine injury, her autopsy report had said. She was found by her family in the fields, naked, bleeding, with multiple fractures and a gash in her tongue.

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“The post-mortem report says the victim died due to her neck injury. FSL (Forensic Science Laboratory) report hasn’t found sperm in samples, making it clear that some people twisted the matter to stir caste-based tension. Such people will be identified and legal action will be taken,” said Prashant Kumar, a senior UP police officer.

The autopsy report had said the woman died of “injury to the cervical spine by indirect blunt trauma.” The report also says there was an attempt to strangle her with her dupatta, but clarifies that was not what caused her death.

The police claimed her tongue was cut because she bit it while her attackers were trying to strangle her. The injury to her neck had left her paralysed and struggling to breathe, according to her family.

A scientific officer at a government forensic department, who didn’t want to be named, told NDTV: “The post-mortem report mentions old healed injuries to her private parts, though how old is not mentioned. The injuries would have healed during her medical treatment. The report does not commit to rape as it’s not the cause of death and a serological examination report is awaited.”

The government hospital in Aligarh, where the woman was admitted on September 22,  said: “On the basis of local examination we are of the opinion that there are signs of use of force, however, opinion regarding penetrative intercourse is reserved pending availability of FSL reports.”

There has been outrage after the UP police took away the woman’s body and cremated it near their village in the dead of night against her family’s wishes, with her parents and brothers locked in their home. As per reports, the family had requested the police to allow them to take her body and perform the last rites the next morning, but the police did not pay heed to their requests.