© Sharmita Kar | India.com News Desk
Nirbhaya convicts’ lawyer AP Singh (File Photo).


New Delhi: AP Singh, who fought in defence of the four rapists accused in 2012 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case, will be defending the four men accused in the Hathras case, an India Today report stated on Monday. The report stated that the Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha, an upper-caste body, has reached out to Singh to fight for the accused in the alleged gangrape of the 20-year-old Dalit woman who died last month. In a recent press release, AP Singh has mentioned that the body had collected a lot of money to hire him as they thought the SC/ST objective was being “misused” to slander the upper caste community. The decision was taken by former Union Minister Raja Manvendra Singh, who is the national president of Akhil Bharatiya Kshatriya Mahasabha. Notably, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister has said that a conspiracy was being hatched in the state by politicising the incident in order to organise an ethnic riot. The UP Police had also filed a lawsuit under IPC sections in Lucknow.

Amid a nationwide outrage over the growing number of caste-led rape cases, the Hathras case has started receiving support from upper-caste groups who are demanding an “unbiased” probe.