2020 Hathras gang rape and murder

On 14 September 2020, a 19-year-old Dalit woman was attacked while collecting cattle fodder on a farm in Hathras district, Uttar Pradesh. According to her dying statement, four men — named as Sandeep Thakur, Ramu Thakur, Lavkush Thakur and Ravi Thakur — dragged her by her dupatta, causing a severe spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed, and strangled her as she resisted a rape attempt; her tongue was injured in the process. Her mother found her in the field after hearing her cries. The victim was first taken to a local police station, where officers reportedly rejected and humiliated the family, and police did not register a complaint until 20 September, with her statement recorded only on 22 September. She was treated first at a hospital in Aligarh and later transferred to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, where she died on 29 September 2020. An autopsy listed the cause of death as injury to the cervical spine from blunt-force trauma.

The case drew intense scrutiny after police cremated the victim's body at approximately 2:30 am on 29 September without the consent of her family, reportedly locking them in their home during the cremation; a police official maintained consent had been obtained. The Allahabad High Court took suo moto cognisance of the cremation and summoned the family and local officials. Separately, a senior police officer publicly stated forensic evidence showed no sperm and suggested the incident had been "twisted" for caste-related motives, a claim experts and a retired officer criticized as scientifically unsound given standard forensic timelines. A video also surfaced showing a district official pressuring the family to alter their statements. The state government suspended five police officers, including the district's Superintendent of Police, and transferred the local station house officer for failing to act promptly.

The Uttar Pradesh government alleged an "international plot" and "deep-rooted conspiracy" to incite caste unrest, filing multiple FIRs, and a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe began on 10 October 2020 following national outrage, though the victim's family had preferred a judicial inquiry. The case triggered protests across India and among diaspora communities abroad, along with political statements from opposition leaders including Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Mayawati and Arvind Kejriwal, as well as controversial remarks from some ruling-party figures. The United Nations in India also issued a statement expressing concern over gender-based violence in the case.

The CBI filed a chargesheet on 19 December 2020 against the four accused for gang rape, murder, and offences under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, and separately criticized the Uttar Pradesh Police for delays in recording the victim's statement and conducting medical examinations. On 2 March 2023, the Hathras district court acquitted three of the accused — Ramu, Lavkush and Ravi — while convicting Sandeep Thakur of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and offences under the SC/ST Act; he was sentenced to life imprisonment and fined. None of the four were convicted of rape or murder. Both the prosecution and defence have appealed the verdict to the Allahabad High Court, and the CBI has attributed the acquittals in part to investigative failures by the Uttar Pradesh Police.