The 20-year-old was hastily cremated by police this week while the family was locked up.
Five policemen, including the police superintendent, have been suspended in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district amid growing nationwide outrage over the death of a 20-year-old woman who was allegedly raped by a group of men belonging to a so-called “upper caste”. community.
An initial report from the Special Investigative Team to investigate the incident called for their suspension over allegations of mismanagement.
Investigators also requested a narcoanalysis, also known as lie testing, of everyone involved, including the arrested suspects and the victim’s family.
The victim, 20, who was attacked on September 14 in a field near his home in Hathras, died on Tuesday. His body was hastily cremated at 2:30 a.m. by police in an apparent effort to thwart long-standing protests.
However, protests erupted in many cities across the country, including one in Delhi on Friday, attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Chandrashekar Azad, chief of Bhim’s army who represents members of the Dalit community.
As the family claim the woman died from a brutal sexual assault, Senior Police Officer Prashant Kumar said on Thursday the woman died from a neck injury. “No semen was found in the samples,” Kumar said.
The ruling BJP accused opposition parties, including Congress, which played a key role in the protests, of trying to politicize the issue, and said the victim’s family would see justice.
