Teesta Setalvad's Citizens For Justice And Peace Moves SC Seeking Intervention In Hathras Case, Seeks Witness Protection And SC Monitored Probe

Teesta Setalvad's Citizens for Justice and Peace, has moved the Supreme Court seeking intervention in the PIL for SIT/ CBI investigation into the Hathras case. It has urged the Court to consider the following aspects of the matter: Witness Protection It is highlighted that cases of intimidating a victim's family are on a rise and even though it is claimed that protection has been grated to the Hathras victim's family, the Court should ensure that "the personnel who do protect family, including women also hail from similar strata, to avoid further alienation and intimidation." Narco Analysis Test Cannot Be Forcibly Conducted On An Individual: SC Held in Selvi vs. State Of Karnataka Statements by public authorities Referring to the UP DGP's statement that forensic report of the victim does not establish a case of rape, the organization pointed out, "Union health Ministry's protocol for medical examination of victims of sexual assault stipulates that examining doctors "should neither refute nor confirm" whether a sexual offence had occurred…" It is also pointed out that on September 22, the victim informed the doctors that she was raped. Relevance of forensic reports and other medical evidence in rape cases Significantly, the allegations of rape have been discounted by the UP Govt on two frounds: the FSL report states that no sperm or ova were found on the victim's body post mortem suggested that the cause of death was trauma following a neck injury In this backdrop it is submitted, "reliability of the FSL report is debatable as the sperm was collected 11 days after the sexual assault" whereas the likelihood of identifying spermatozoa is only for 72 hours after assault.