Unnao Deaths- "Transfer Probe To CBI, Shift Lone Survivor To AIIMS": Urges Letter Petition To Allahabad High Court

As reported by the Indian Express, three Dalit girls, aged 13, 16 and 17, were found unconscious in a field on Wednesday (17^th February) evening. The three had gone to the family fields to collect fodder, as per their relatives. The younger cousins died while the 17-year-old was admitted to a hospital in Kanpur.

Unnao Police has registered a case u/s 302 and 201 of the IPC on 18.02.2021 at about 11:45 hours. Two men have been arrested in the case. As per the claim of the Police Officials, the Girls were poisoned by them after they were 'rejected' by the eldest girl and all the three girls, who were cousins, reportedly drank the water inadvertently.

The Petitioner has also stated that he was compelled to approach the High Court through an email as the present circumstances and the urgency makes it extremely difficult for a formal Writ Petition to be filed through the normal process, nor does the family of the victim appear to be in a position to approach this Honourable Court in a matter of hours.

This petitioner has stated in the plea that he had formally written to the Chief Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh, through email on 18^th February 2021, to shift the lone survivor to the All India Institute of Medical Science, New Delhi through air-ambulance to save her life but no response was received.

The representation/letter also alleges that allegations have been made by the members of the deceased girls' families before the media on 18^th February 2021 that the Unnao Police had detained at least four male members of their families, including the father and brother of the victims.

It has further been alleged that after the bodies of the two deceased minor girls were handed back to their families after the post mortem, the Unnao Police/Uttar Pradesh Police had put pressures on the family to cremate the bodies immediately in the night

Apprehensions of the petitioner

The letter states that,

"The manner in which the State of Uttar Pradesh, the Government of Uttar Pradesh, and particularly the Uttar Pradesh Police, have sought to not investigate, or subvert investigations, of horrific sexual assaults in cases where the accused happened to be a person with considerable political influence, or if the victims belonged to socially marginalized community in general and from a Scheduled Caste/Dalit community in particular, and the accused belonged to a socially and politically dominant community is disturbing to say the least and is the primary reason for this petition."

The petition further refers to the Unnao Rape Case, wherein the Allahabad High Court, in April 2018, took suo motu cognizance of an incident of rape followed by the custodial death of the victim's father in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district.

It may be noted that the Supreme Court of India had taken suo moto cognizance of all the cases related to this matter and had transferred all cases out of Uttar Pradesh to Delhi to ensure a fair trial.

Further, the representation also refers to the Hath Gang Rape &Murder Case, wherein the Allahabad High Court took suo moto cognizance in the matter.

In the representation/letter, it has been stated that,

"In spite of the statement of the victim confirming gang-rape, just before her death, the Uttar Pradesh Police continued to brazenly deny that there was no rape and no such evidence of rape could be found. When the case was finally handed over to the CBI, after directions from the Supreme Court of India, CBI has now filed a charge sheet in the Hathras gang-rape case charging the accused the victim had named with gang-rape and murder."

Thus, the letter concludes that,

"It does not inspire any confidence that the same Uttar Pradesh Police would do justice in this present case."

Prayers of the Petition

The Representation/Letter urges the Allahabad High:-

· To take cognizance in the matter and bring under its supervision the investigation of the case and to hand it over to the Central Bureau of Investigation.

· Direct the Government of Uttar Pradesh to shift the lone minor survivor of in critical condition to be shifted by air-ambulance with a team of specialist doctors to the All Indian Medical Science, New Delhi.

· Order that the bodies of the deceased minor Dalit girls to be exhumed and a second post-mortem be carried out by a team of forensic pathologists from the All India Institute of Medical Science taking every step to ensure transparency of the entire procedure.

It may be noted that the Unnao police yesterday booked eight Twitter account holders, including the Instant Petitioner [Nilim Dutta (Chairman, Unified People's Movement)], for allegedly "spreading misleading information" about the "poisoning" of three Dalit girls, leading to the death of two, in the district.