The High Court in Uttar Pradesh today warned against "character assassination" of the 20-year-old in Hathras, whose death last month after brutal torture and alleged gangrape and the subsequent 2 am cremation by the police, outraged the country. The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had taken up the case suo motu and was examining the role of the police in the matter, including the secret cremation.