New Delhi: Six years after the gangrape and death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman in Uttar Pradesh’s Hathras district, the victim’s family says their lives remain marked by isolation, financial hardship and constant security concerns. The family, which has been living under round-the-clock Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) protection since 2020, now hopes to be relocated to Noida or Ghaziabad following an Allahabad High Court order on Monday (August 24).A report by Times of India on the family’s current circumstances narrates how the security arrangements have severely restricted their everyday lives. The victim’s brother said the family’s members have been unable to maintain a normal social life and have been facing difficulty in leaving home for work, exacerbating their financial difficulties. He said hostility from local residents continues to raise safety concerns for the family.“There has been no social life over these years. No one has visited us and no one in the family can go out to earn a livelihood. We are facing severe financial distress, bordering on starvation,” he told TOI.The family has also continued to incur expenses because of the ongoing legal proceedings. As per the TOI report, relatives travelling to court hearings in Lucknow, Delhi and other locations have had to arrange and pay for private transportation themselves. The victim’s brother said a significant amount of money had been spent on legal fees over the last six years.Hence, the family has been seeking relocation to the Delhi-NCR region for greater security and better employment and educational opportunities. The victim’s brother told TOI that if the government provided employment to even one family member, others could seek private employment, while the children could access better education.Even though some steps towards rebuilding the family’s life have been taken following a separate court order, such as enrolling children from the family to a local Kendriya Vidyalaya, meaningful rehabilitation measures have not been taken beyond security and isolated administrative steps.The Allahabad high court’s latest order came after the state failed to adequately address the family’s request for relocation. As reported by The Wire earlier, the court noted that despite its previous orders directing the state to consider relocating the family, its request had not been “properly considered”.A bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Jaspreet Singh observed that there appeared to be “unnecessary resistance” from the state to the directions issued on September 26, 2024, November 14, 2024, and January 8, 2025. The court also set aside the state government’s February 22, 2025, decision, that offered rehabilitation in Kasganj, Etah or Aligarh.It directed the state government to rehabilitate and relocate the family to either Noida or Ghaziabad within three months. The court also reiterated an earlier direction from July 26, 2022 that one member of the family should be provided employment as part of the rehabilitation process. It directed the state to provide the employment following the family’s relocation.The latest order comes more than four years after the high court first directed the state government to consider relocating the family outside Hathras. For the past six years, the family’s life has been marked by isolation, financial strain and limited livelihood opportunities, while three of the four accused have been acquitted of charges.