In the letter, the accused has alleged that he and the woman were “friends” who often spoke over the “phone”.
The four men accused in the Hathras rape and murder case have written to the Hathras Superintendent of Police, claiming they are “innocent” and that the 19-year-old woman was beaten up by her brother and mother on September 14, the day of the incident, because they were “against our friendship”.
The 19-year-old Dalit woman was allegedly raped and assaulted by four upper caste men. She was admitted to an Aligarh hospital where she gave a statement saying that she was “gangraped” by the four men. After the statement, all four accused were arrested and sent to Aligarh jail on September 26. The woman died at Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital three days later.
The letter which is written by the prime accused Sandeep and also carries the thumb prints of the Luv Kush, Ram Kumar and Ravi was sent to the SP late on Wednesday evening. In the letter, Sandeep alleged that he and the woman were “friends” who often spoke over the “phone”.
“I was arrested on September 20 under a false case. My relatives Ram and Ravi were also arrested in this case along with a local Luv Kush. The woman (victim) was my friend. We would meet each other and also talk over the phone. Her family was against our friendship,” said the letter.
On September 14, accused Sandeep said he met the woman in the fields, where her mother and brother were also present. He alleged that he “left the place when she asked him to do so” and was feeding his animals. Later, villagers told Sandeep that the woman’s family beat her up because she was friends with him.
“Her mother and brother beat her up. She sustained severe injuries which later caused her death. I have never hit the woman or done anything wrong. Her mother and brother registered a false case against me and three others and sent us to jail. We are innocent. Please investigate this matter and get us justice,” said Sandeep in the letter which has thumbprints of all four accused.
Alok Singh, Senior Superintendent, Aligarh Jail said, “They gave us a letter addressed to the Hathras SP yesterday. As per law, we forwarded the letter to Hathras police in the evening.”
The woman’s family, meanwhile, has said the allegations and the letter are a way to malign the family. “She didn’t have a cellphone and didn’t know how to use one. These allegations are false and the men are trying to malign us. My husband and father-in-law are very stressed. We are tired of these baseless allegations. Sandeep has been harassing my sister-in-law for months,” said the victim’s sister in law.
Source: The Indian Express
