2020 Hathras gang-rape case: Defamation case against Rahul Gandhi to be heard on March 24

A special court in Hathras on Saturday fixed March 24 as the next date of hearing in a defamation case filed against Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi for his remarks on the 2020 Hathras gang-rape case, according to an advocate.

Advocate Munna Singh Pundir said that on Saturday the MP-MLA court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) Deepak Nath Saraswati recorded the statement of complainant Ramkumar alias Ramu, who has been acquitted in the rape case, and fixed March 24 as the next day of hearing.

The defamation case stems from Gandhi's remarks after the Hathras incident.

A Dalit girl from a village was allegedly gangraped in September 2020, and died days later during treatment at a hospital in Delhi. Four men of her village were accused of committing the crime. Three of them -- Ramkumar, Luvkush and Ravi -- were acquitted, while Sandeep was found guilty and is still in jail.

This case was latched onto by opposition leaders who launched a fierce attack on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi visited Hathras and met the victim's family. He later posted on social media platform X that keeping the victim family locked in the house while gangrape accused roam freely is against the basic spirit of Baba Saheb's Constitution.

He had also accused the BJP government of not fulfilling the promise of shifting the victim's family by giving them a house at another place.

"We, the people of Congress and INDIA Alliance, who believe in Ambedkar ji's Constitution, will together help that family - we will renovate their house," he had posted.

Ramkumar, who was acquitted in the rape case, filed a complaint against Rahul Gandhi over his post.

Advocate Pundir said they filed three complaints against Gandhi, one each by the three acquitted persons.

"Today was the date in Ramkumar's case, in which his statement was recorded in the court. The next date of hearing in this case has been fixed as 24th March," Pundir said.

He said the three accused were acquitted by the court, yet Gandhi posted on his X handle that the rapists are roaming around freely.

Pundir claimed that the court's decision had come in the case and Rahul Gandhi was aware of it. "Even after this, Rahul Gandhi had deliberately given this statement, for which he was served a notice," he said.

Gandhi received the notice, but did not respond to it, he said.