Hathras incident: Mayawati slams UP govt over 'mysterious silence'

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], October 4 : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday hit out at the Uttar Pradesh Government over its "mysterious silence" on the Hathras incident as the victim's family has made several serious allegations of intimidation against the District Magistrate.
"The victim family of Hathras gang rape case has made many serious allegations of intimidation etc. against the DM. Nevertheless, the mysterious silence of the Uttar Pradesh government is sad and very worrying," Mayawati tweeted (translated from Hindi).
She further raised apprehension over a fair probe into the matter in presence of the District Magistrate.
"Although the government has agreed to the CBI investigation, how can this case be investigated objectively while the DM is there? People are apprehensive," she added.
On October 1, Hathras District Magistrate PK Laxkar had denied "negative rumours" about the rife between him and the family of the gangrape victim.
While talking to ANI, Laxkar had said that he has been regularly interacting with the family. "I met with six family members of the victim yesterday and we spoke for about an hour and a half. I met with them again today to see their point of discontent. I deny the negative rumours which are rife about my interactions with them," the DM had said.
"They want the convicted people to be punished and hanged to death. I tried to allay their fears and told them that the matter would be tried in a fast track court," he had added.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister had on Saturday recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the case.
The 19-year-old woman died at Delhi's Safdarjung hospital on September 29. All the four accused in the incident have been arrested.