IIM-Bangalore staff, students write to PM Modi demanding justice for Hathras victim and family

KEY STORY

• A total of 187 professors, students and staff at the Indian Institute of Management in Bengaluru (IIM-B) have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemning the alleged gangrape and murder of the 19-year old Dalit girl from Hathras.

• The Uttar Pradesh police has been criticised for allegedly not acting on the complaint initially, and later burning the victim’s body in the wee hours of Wednesday without the family’s consent.

• The family is now demanding a judicial inquiry into the alleged rape and murder, the UP government has recommended a CBI investigation.

• The incident and the police’s handling of the case has triggered nationwide protests including in the national capital against the Yogi Adityananth-led administration.

• In their open letter, they said, “We demand justice for the girl who died under the brutal attack without recourse to good medical care and who was not given the dignity of a last farewell. We demand justice for the family who was even denied access to participate in her last rites. We seek assurance that the family will not be intimidated, but rather supported to get justice. We demand that in addition to the perpetrators of the rape, those who seek to bury this matter with such impunity are also punished.”.

The letter has been reproduced in full:

We, the undersigned faculty, staff, students and alumni of IIMB, strongly condemn the vicious gang-rape of the 19-year old Dalit girl from Hathras. We demand justice for the girl who died under the brutal attack without recourse to good medical care and who was not given the dignity of a last farewell. We demand justice for the family who was even denied access to participate in her last rites. We seek assurance that the family will not be intimidated, but rather supported to get justice. We demand that in addition to the perpetrators of the rape, those who seek to bury this matter with such impunity are also punished. We demand justice for the innumerable girls and women, from all walks of Indian society, but especially from the poorest and the most marginalized communities, who are targeted and abused daily on the basis of their caste or religion. We demand the right to safety. To dignity. For all Indians. We demand that our law and order system follows due process and justice in this case and always. Not encounters. Not cover-ups. Not extra-judicial killings. Not use tools of governance against us every time we peacefully protest actions of our government. We demand that the government and the police do their jobs and ensure safety and security for every Indian citizen. Injustice impacts all of us directly and indirectly. We are one body and when one part is hurt, the whole is hurt. Injustice can occur only with the consent of all of us. We will no longer sit by idly while our Dalit sisters are subjected to harassment and indignity. As the heirs of Ambedkar, Gandhi, Kabir, Savitribai Phule, Basavanna and countless others who have fought for equality and our rights, we will no longer consent to this injustice. We stand together and say “Enough!” This stops in our generation.