Overview
- All India Mahila Congress president Alka Lamba on Thursday demanded that the 2020 Hathras gangrape and death case be reopened after the three-part film 'Hathras 16 Days' was released.
- The documentary features a gynaecologist who says the victim was bathed before medical examination and a former senior police officer who says forensic evidence was not collected for eight days, claims that the AIMC says weakened the prosecution.
- AIMC says the film alleges the victim's body was cremated in the early hours of September 30, 2020, without family consent and in the presence of senior district officials, raising questions about who authorised the action.
- The party notes that three of the four accused were acquitted in March 2023 and is seeking action against officers accused of mishandling evidence, delayed FIR registration, and failure to submit the gynaecologist's statement and the victim's dying declaration to court.
- The case remains politically charged because of the victim's Dalit identity and past restrictions on leaders visiting the family, and the AIMC says the film could trigger renewed legal and administrative scrutiny though no official reinvestigation has been ordered so far.