Centre issues notification to CBI to take over Hathras gangrape probe

The notification has been marked to a suitable branch of the premier agency, and probe teams will be dispatched to the crime scene along with forensic experts

Days after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath recommended a CBI probe into the alleged gang-rape and killing of a 19-year-old Dalit girl in Hathras, the Central government on Saturday issued a notification to the federal agency to take over the probe, officials said.

The officials said that the notification has been marked to a suitable branch of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The officials further said that after taking over the probe, CBI sleuths along with the forensic team will visit the crime scene.

The Dalit girl had died at a Delhi hospital on September 29, a fortnight after she was allegedly raped and assaulted by four upper caste men in her village.

After her death, the last rites of the girl was performed after midnight sans the presence of her family members, for which the UP government drew widespread criticism.

A political row also erupted surrounding the tragic incident as opposition leaders were not allowed to visit the victim's family. Last Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was roughed up by UP Police personnel at the Yamuna Expressway when he was marching towards Hathras.

Even Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brian was manhandled outside the victim's village.

Yogi Adityanath had demanded a CBI probe into the incident earlier this week.

--IANS

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