Allahabad High Court orders relocation of Hathras victim’s family to Ghaziabad or Noida within three months

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Police personnel cremating the body of a 19-year-old woman who was brutally gang-raped, in the wee hours in Hathras in September 2020. | Photo Credit: -

The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to rehabilitate and relocate the family of the Hathras gang rape and murder victim to Ghaziabad or Noida within three months, after finding “unnecessary resistance” on the State’s part in complying with its earlier directions.

A Bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh observed that the State’s February 22, 2025 decision offering to rehabilitate the family in Kasganj, Etah or Aligarh did not consider its request for relocation to Ghaziabad or Noida and was, therefore, “no decision in the eyes of law”.

Such orders, the Bench said, lent credence to the family’s assertion that the State was treating the matter as “adversarial litigation” and was adamant about not granting it statutory benefits under the court’s orders. “We, therefore, see no reason to grant any further time to the State for reconsideration of the matter,” it said.

The court directed the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) to file a compliance affidavit. In case of non-compliance, he will have to appear before the court in person on November 30.

The Bench noted that despite an earlier direction to consider the family’s request for relocation to Ghaziabad or Noida, the State’s subsequent decision did not even mention the request.

Speaking to T he Hindu, the victim’s elder brother said the judiciary had been providing them succour, but the government was delaying the relief. “It has been almost six years, but our life has not come back on track. As the districts offered by the government are adjoining or close to Hathras, we wanted to be rehabilitated to Delhi-NCR for safety,” he said.

The 19-year-old woman was allegedly raped by four men from her village in September 2020 and died at a Delhi hospital a fortnight later.

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