-The Hindu By repeatedly setting aside convictions under the PoA Act, courts bolster allegations that the law is misused The horror of the gang rape of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Hathras in 2020 is still fresh in our minds. Activists, academics and lawyers argued that the sexual violence took place on account of the woman’s gender and caste and that the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act,...

-Leaflet.in THE Allahabad High Court Friday issued a stern warning to those attempting to disrupt the trial proceedings in the Hathras gang-rape case after the victim’s brother alleged that an unruly mob, including lawyers, barged into the court and intimidated the witnesses and the complainant’s counsel The trial judge was eventually forced to adjourn the proceedings. “If any person who is stranger to the trial as also anyone who may be involved in...

-The Indian Express Whenever the criminal justice process fails, there is an outcry for new laws. We have enough laws. What we lack is the honest implementation of existing laws. The Hathras case has once again put the spotlight on our criminal justice process. The facts of the crime and subsequent support from powerful interests in favour of the accused are very similar to the 2018 Kathua rape case, where two sitting...

-The Indian Express What does the UP government so ferociously seek to protect — after having violated every possible fundamental right of its people? This article shall neither delve into whether a rape happened or someone simply went missing while going into the field, nor the atrocity of dragging someone by their dupatta while injuring their neck and spinal cord. The authors shall not devote space to how abominable the incident is....

-The Indian Express She cannot tell her story. Instead, her grieving family, a tense village in Hathras riven by deep fault lines, and a sordid drama by police and the administration, have taken over the narrative. The Sunday Express reports from her home. Hathras: IT WAS a busy month on the sewing machine for the 19-year-old. On August 26, a baby was born, her brother’s third daughter. Apart from the usual embroidery...