A former legislator of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Rajveer Pahalwan on Sunday called a mahapanchayat of upper caste members at his residence in Hathras, amid the nationwide uproar over alleged gang-rape and murder of a Dalit woman in the district. During the meeting, Pahalwan said that the accused who have been arrested in the case are not that guilty as being painted.

Pahalwan also welcomed the state government’s decision to recommend a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter and said, it “will reveal the truth about the incident.” The upper caste members also raised doubts about the woman’s family denying the narco test during the meeting.

Also read: Hathras gang-rape victim’s family against CBI probe; SIT records statement

Advocates, who took part in the mahapanchayat, have said they will meet the special investigation team (SIT), constituted by the state government to probe the matter, later in the day.

The state government had on Friday ordered a “narco-analysis polygraph tests” for everyone involved in the case, including the woman’s family members. The decision was taken after the report of the autopsy conducted by the state government contradicted the woman’s allegation that she was gang-raped on September 14. The family has refused to undergo the narco test and demanded a judicial probe through the Supreme Court into the matter.

On September 29, the woman succumbed to her injuries in Safdarjung Hospital in New Delhi. She was cremated by authorities. The state police and the government have been questioned over their decision to cremate the woman’s body in the dead of the night without the presence of her family members.

The family says the cremation was forceful and was done without her parents and relatives’ presence. However, the administration says that it was conducted with the family’s consent.