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Even before the outrage over the gang rape-murder case of a Dalit woman in Hathras settled, a six-year-old girl from the district, who was allegedly raped by her relative, died during treatment at a hospital in Delhi, police said Tuesday.
The minor was held captive at a relative's house in Iglas area of Aligarh district and was rescued on September 17, Senior Superintendent of Police Muniraj G said.
"On a complaint by a social organisation police raided the house, which belonged to a relative of the victim, found the girl and admitted her to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College hospital where she was being treated till four days ago," the SSP told reporters.
The girl was shifted to Delhi's Safdarjung hospital after her condition deteriorated and she died on Monday.
An FIR was registered by police on September 21 on the complaint of the girl's father, a resident of a village in Hathras district, that he suspected the girl was raped in captivity. Police then arrested the 15-year-old relative who confessed to his crime, the SSP said.
"The boy's mother, who is the maternal aunt (mausi) of the victim, is reported to be an accomplice in the crime and is absconding," he said.
On Tuesday, the victim's family sat with her body on the main road in Hathras in protest against the failure of the police to arrest the woman. After persuasion by senior police officials, they agreed to conduct the last rites.
The SSP said the Iglas police station SHO has been suspended for negligence.
He also said two police teams have been constituted to trace the woman.
The incident has come to light amid a widespread outrage over the death and alleged gangrape of a Dalit woman in Hathras by four "upper caste" men and the Uttar Pradesh administration's response to the incident.
The woman's family alleged the body was burnt at night without their approval, but the local police said the cremation was done "as per the wishes of the family". Citing an FSL report, the Hathras police also claimed that the woman was not raped.
The UP government has requested the Centre to order a CBI probe into the incident as "fake narratives were being spread about the case with political motives". On Tuesday, it told the Supreme Court the CBI probe may be conducted under its supervision.