Court orders relocation of Hathras rape victim's family after six years of guarded confinement

The brother of the 19-year-old Dalit woman murdered in a 2020 gang-rape described years of constant CRPF protection as a form of house arrest, with no social life or income. After the Allahabad High Court, comprising Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh, dismissed the state’s proposal to move the family to Kasganj, Etah or Aligarh, it ordered the Uttar Pradesh government to relocate them to Noida or Ghaziabad within three months.

The family, now eight members strong, hopes the shift to the NCR will enable job prospects, private employment, and better schooling for the children, who were recently placed in a Kendriya Vidyalaya. They continue to bear legal expenses and face hostility from some locals, requiring private transport for court appearances in Lucknow, Delhi and elsewhere. A Tulsi plant in their courtyard, planted by the victim’s sister, remains a daily reminder of the tragedy. The original case saw three of four accused acquitted and one sentenced to life imprisonment.