Hathras gang-rape case: SC agrees to examine victim’s family's plea seeking relocation outside UP

New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS) The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to examine a plea filed by the family of the victim in the infamous Hathras gang-rape incident seeking relocation and rehabilitation outside Uttar Pradesh, preferably in Delhi.

A bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued a notice and sought response from the Uttar Pradesh government on the writ petition. 

The plea sought relocation under the apprehension that the victim’s family could face untoward social ramifications on account of belonging to a certain socially and economically prejudiced community.

The petition challenged the order passed by the Allahabad High Court directing relocation of the family within the state of Uttar Pradesh under Section 15A of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Rules, 1995, in view of the socio-economic and mental plight of the victim's family.

“The petitioner No. 1 in the present circumstances seeks relocation and rehabilitation outside the state, preferably Delhi, considering the inhuman treatment and socio-economic deprivation of the victims and witnesses within the state of Uttar Pradesh,” the plea said. 

In March this year, the special judge in Hathras had acquitted the three accused from all the charges while convicting the main accused for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, granting him acquittal with respect to rape.

The petition said that owing to the recent acquittal of the alleged perpetrators of the heinous crime, who are otherwise members of the dominant community, the victim's family may further face untoward social ramifications on account of belonging to a certain socially and economically prejudiced community.