In the early hours of Wednesday, the remains of a deceased rape victim were taken back to her Uttar Pradesh village from Delhi, where she breathed her last, but local policemen did not permit her body to be sent home one last time.
Despite constant pleading by her grieving family members, local cops under the Uttar Pradesh government, who regularly make it to the headlines for their questionable work temperament and ethics, did not allow her actual body to reach home, forcibly facilitating the cremation of the deceased girl a little after 3:00 a.m. (local time).
Some heart-wrenching videos from last night have disrupted social networking platforms in India. The videos appear to depict police officers insisting that the last rites be done then and there. When the wailing family did not agree, the police barricaded them inside their home and burnt the body in haste.
Present on the spot, a sweaty inspector Sanjeev Kumar Sharma from the UP police refused to provide any information to the media, but kept repeating things like: he did not know what was burning in the field, he is not authorised to answer, and that he cannot say what was being set on fire in the back of the frame captured on camera.
The victim's younger brother revealed his sister's final wish to be taken back home to famous Indian journalist Barkha Dutt just a short time after the victim succumbed to her injuries and was declared dead after a 10-day fight for her life.
Twitter has been deluged with reactions on what they see as a the victim's disrespectful final farewell by UP cops. #ShameOnYouHathrasPolice is trending on Twitter in India. The state chief of UP, Yogi Adityanath is also drawing severe flak on social media.
The victim’s grieveing mother kept pleading that her daughter must be taken back home one last time for rituals before she is said a goodbye to forever on a pyre.
According to various accounts of her statement published in Hindi media outlets, in mid-September the victim was dragged to a farm by her assailants who also tried to strangle her after the incident. A part of her tongue was chopped off, while her spine also suffered a major blow.
The case has reminded India of the brutal Nirbhaya gang rape that shook the nation back in 2012. The accused in the case were hanged earlier this year after after a seven-year court battle.