Indian authorities claim Hathras gang-rape outcry is 'international conspiracy' to bring down government

UN says it is ‘profoundly saddened and concerned by cases of sexual violence against women and girls in India’, prompting backlash from Delhi

Students of JNU in Delhi burn a cut-out of the Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday (EPA)

The horrifying case of a young woman’s alleged gang-rape and murder in India has become the centre of both national and international political rows, drawing expressions of alarm from the Supreme Court of India and the United Nations.

Four upper caste men have been arrested after the death of a 19-year-old woman from the village of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh, but police in the state have been criticised for their initial handling of the attack, their swift cremation of the victim’s body, their heavy-handed approach with protesters and their attempts to block opposition politicians from meeting with the victim’s family.

The UN’s representative in India, Renata Dessallien, the case was a reminder of how “women and girls from disadvantaged social groups … are at greater risk of gender-based violence”.

“The UN in India is profoundly saddened and concerned at the continuing cases of sexual violence against women and girls in India,” she said.

According to the most recent government figures, more than 405,000 cases of crimes against women were registered in 2019 – an increase of more than 7 per cent on the previous year. Of these, almost 30 per cent were registered by police as cases of sexual assault and rape.

The Indian government has rejected the UN’s intervention, however, calling it “unwarranted”. 

“[The] UN resident coordinator in India should be aware that these cases have been taken extremely seriously by the government,” government spokesperson Anurag Srivastava told the Indian Express.

“Since the investigation process is still underway, any unnecessary comments by an external agency are best avoided,” he added.

The attack in Hathras took place on 14 September, with the victim’s mother finding her naked and bleeding in fields near their village. The victim was later transferred to a hospital in Delhi, where she succumbed to her injuries on 29 September.

The incident has sparked protests by groups calling for justice and criticising both state and central governments – Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP is in power in both – for failing to protect members of lower caste communities.

The Supreme Court of India said on Tuesday that it was concerned by the case, calling it “shocking” and “horrible”.

A bench of judges led by chief justice of India Sharad Arvind Bobde promised to oversee the investigation of the alleged gang-rape and murder, and ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to set out in detail what measures were being taken to protect witnesses.

But the Uttar Pradesh authorities have continued to take a heavy-handed approach, issuing 21 initial charge sheets to protesters on Monday who, officials said, had attempted to “incite caste and communal tension and defame the state government”, alongside the colonial-era charge of “sedition”.

Yogi Adityanath, the chief minister of the state, blamed “anarchists” as well as an “international conspiracy” for the unrest surrounding the alleged gang-rape.

State officials said they were investigating a website with the address justiceforhathrasvictim.carrd.co, which hosted information about protests before it was taken down. An unnamed state government official was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying the website involved “people based in some foreign countries”.

Speaking to party workers on Monday, Mr Adityanath also criticised opposition leaders, including the Congress party’s Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, for travelling to the state to meet the victims.

“Our opponents are conspiring against us by trying to lay a foundation for caste and communal riots through international funding. For the last one week, opposition parties were keen to see riots. We need to move forward amidst all these conspiracies,” he said.