Lucknow 10 Aug, Lucknow : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has prepared detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs) which will be presented to the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court for dignified funerals of the deceased in incidents such as the Hathras murder and gang-rape.A bench of two judges of Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh had, on 5 August, ordered the government of the state to inform and counsel employees/officials who are who are involved in the cremation process to follow the guidelines and meet the goal.
The court also instructed the state government to inform to apply the SOPs and make it widely known at hospitals, police stations primary health centers district headquarters as well as collectorates, tehsil, and tehs among others.
The High Court took suo of notice of the Hathras murder and rape cases on the 1st of October 2020.
It also directed the government of the state to develop an SOP for the proper cremation of bodies following incidents like these.
The 30th of September, 2020 the administration of Hathras district in Hathras had burned the girl in the in the night, against the wishes of her parents.
“The personnel and officers under the state who will be involved in the cremation of the deceased should be educated and urged to adhere to the SOP/scheme strictly and in an order that is designed to accomplish the goal instead of attempting to overcome it,” observed the court.
The court also stated: “The observance and adherence to the scheme/SOP must not be a sham or a sloppy formality.The spirit and letter of the scheme/SOP are paramount because it relates to valuable fundamental rights and constitutional rights.The entire exercise must be executed in an obedient manner with proper consideration for these rights.”
In the past, it also suggested to the government of the state to think about offering a job to the relative of the victim, and then relocating to any other location in Hathras.
It is possible to recall that a 19-year-old Dalit girl was raped by a gang of four people in the village in Hathras district on the 14th of September of 2020, as she went to the fields to gather fodder for cattle.She was partially paralyzed in the assault.
As her condition worsened, she was admitted to Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital on September 28 and died in the early hours of the following day.
The case sparked national outrage and a massive political debate.
amita/shb/
