On Saturday authorities in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras reopened the borders and said that they will allow media to enter the village where a 19-year-old woman was gang-raped, said the official.
The UP Police has set up the barricades roughly 2km from the village on the main road on early Thursday, blocked off all the access paths, and deployed the policemen on the mud tracks and in the fields to prevent any “outsiders” from accessing the village.
The officials have also said that section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibits the assembly of four or more people.was camped in the area. They had said that the ongoing probe by the SIT was the reason for the restrictions.
“Since SIT probe in the village is complete, the restriction on media has been lifted. More than five media persons are now allowed to gather as Section 144 of CrPC is in place,” Prem Prakash Meena, Sadar senior divisional magistrate said.
“Only the media is allowed right now. When orders come in to allow delegations, we will let everybody know. All allegations about phones of the family members being taken away or confining them in their homes are absolutely baseless,” Meena said.
Uttar Pradesh’s director general of police HC Awasthi will visit Hathras amid a controversy over local administration’s handling of the alleged rape case.