Cops seize phones of Hathras victim's family; village turned into fortress, entry of media banned

As if forcible midnight cremation of the alleged Hathras gang rape victim was not enough, the police on Friday sealed the village and barred entry of the media and opposition politicians, besides seizing the cell phones of the victim's family members in a bid to prevent them from interacting with the media.

The village was turned into a fortress with the residents being confined to their houses and hundreds of police personnel, including the PAC, surrounding it from every side.

A member of the victim's family alleged that their cell phones had been taken by the cops and that they were not being allowed to speak or meet even their relatives.

"We are not being allowed to go out....our phones have been taken by the cops....they also assaulted my uncle...the cops have surrounded our house," a cousin of the victim, who somehow managed to go out of the village, told reporters.

READ: Media will be gone, we will remain: DM tells Hathras rape victim's family

He said that cops were deployed on the rooftops also to keep an eye on the people.

The family members alleged that the district magistrate of Hathras had threatened them with serious consequences unless they 'cooperated'.

The entry of the media and opposition leaders was also banned by the police, which erected barricades on all entry points into the village. A few media persons, who tried to enter the village, were allegedly manhandled.

Members of the media also embarked on a 'dharna' in Hathras to protest the ban on their entry into the village. Sources said that the media would be allowed in the village only after the SIT, formed to investigate the incident, took the statement of the victim's family.

A senior BJP leader here said that the media was showing the truth.

A delegation of the Trinamool Congress MPs, led by Derek O'Brien, was allegedly roughed by a trainee IAS officer, when it tried to proceed toward the house of the victim to meet her family members.

A video of the incident showed Brien falling on the ground allegedly after being pushed by an official. Some TMC women MPs also alleged that they were manhandled.

The victim, who hailed from SC community, had been brutally assaulted by four youths and died in the hospital. The family members alleged that she was gangraped. The police, however, denied that she had been raped.