Hostage in Hathras: 4 years later, Dalit victim’s family still awaits relocation and justice

In a corner of the wardrobe, a mud pot has been pushed to the back. In it are Asha’s ashes, hidden behind her clothes and dried nail polish bottles.

“We don’t intend to conduct her last rites until we get justice,” said her mother. 

It has been four years since the Hathras gang-rape and murder case. In September 2020, Asha, a 19-year-old Dalit girl, was found half-naked, bleeding, and barely alive just metres from her house. She died two weeks later in the hospital. Her body was forcibly cremated by the Uttar Pradesh police.

Four years after Asha’s alleged murder, three of the accused are back in the village and living as neighbours with her family. Meanwhile, her own family continues to live a life of “captivity,” caged inside their own home.

In July 2024, Asha’s family informed the Allahabad High Court that even though they were supposed to be relocated and given a job, neither of it had happened. They also told the court that the security arrangements were making it difficult for them to move around. The court has sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government.

In the beginning of July, four years after the crime, Newslaundry visited Asha’s home. 

A goat and a CRPF personnel shared a cooler outside their house. Inside a makeshift bunker, four personnel were lying down. Fifty metres away, in another bunker, five CRPF men were lazing while a buffalo stood chewing its cud next to them. 

Another group of personnel stood with their guns around the house. Some scrolled on their phones, and some dozed off. 

Eight CCTV cameras peered down at the family at all hours. Anyone entering or exiting the house had to enter their details into a registry maintained by the CRPF. 

“There’s at least 20-25 men standing guard at all times. A few stand outside, some behind the house and one on the roof,” said Asha’s father as we stepped through a metal detector and walked into the house.