To
Shri Rishi Kumar Shukla,
Director, CBI
New Delhi
Subject: AIDWA demands restoration of FIR including gangrape and murder on the CBI Website
Shri Rishi Kumar Shukla ji,
On behalf of All India Democratic Women’s Association, we express our deep concern about the news published in The Hindu on 12 October, 2020 that the CBI has removed the FIR on the Hathras case from its website. The FIR registered by the Noida Branch of CBI which had earlier been displayed on the Website had included Sections 376, 302 etc. After its deletion, the statement that has now appeared on the Website reads that the CBI will conduct its investigation on the basis of the FIR lodged at the Hathras Police Station at an earlier stage. This strongly suggests an attempt to dilute the case even before investigation has started.
It may be pointed out that the Hathras FIR does not include charges of gang rape and murder and is but a glaring instance of the manner in which the UP police has botched the investigation from the very beginning. In fact, they themselves started declaring that no rape occurred here without proper investigation and in complete denial of the dying declaration of the victim given on 22 September. There was strong suspicion of negligence and even of deliberate undermining of the course of justice in the delay in taking FIR, in producing medico-legal certificate and in sending forensic materials for examination. The manner in which the body of the victim was hastily cremated at dead of night by the police without allowing her family members to be present also casts doubts on their intentions. It was this behaviour of the UP police and administration which made it evident that they were not fit to deal with the case; the public outrage against them was the reason why it had to be shifted to a different agency.
We strongly feel that since now the CBI as a national level investigating agency is in charge of the case, it is their duty fully to restore public faith in the process of its investigation. They certainly cannot do it if they are themselves merely following in the trail of UP police investigation. We therefore demand that the FIR lodged by the Noida Branch be forthwith restored on your Website and that the investigation initiated by CBI moves on its independent path in the interest of truth and justice. We further demand that the CBI should investigate the entire case for gang rape and murder and also the actions and lapses of the UP police and administration.
