A burnt body of a woman in Telangana was found under a National Highway 44 bridge on Thursday morning. The deceased woman was a resident of Shamshabad and worked as a veterinary doctor in Kolluru village. It was then reported that the woman was burnt alive by some unknown persons. The case, however, sent shockwaves across the country when more details started coming in.
The woman was smothered, raped and then burnt by four men in ShamRapeshabad of Ranga Reddy district in Telangana. The incident happened on Wednesday night and the body of the Hyderabad-based veterinary surgeon was found the next day under a culvert in Chatanpally on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway, just a few hours after the crime.
DOCTOR RAPED, BURNT AFTER CRIME: POLICE
The Cyberabad Police arrested four men on Friday in connection with their involvement in the rape and murder of the Telangana doctor. The accused have been identified as Mohammad Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen, and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu. Mohammad Areef (25), who works as a driver, is the prime accused in the Telangana rape-murder case.
In a press conference, the Cyberabad police revealed that the accused had hatched the plan over drinks to rape the doctor. One of them had even punctured the rear wheel of the doctor's scooter when she was not around.
On Wednesday night, the accused were drinking near the Shamshabad toll plaza when they saw the doctor parking her scooter. After that, one of the accused -- Naveen -- punctured the rear wheel of her scooter.
When the woman came back to take her scooter at around 9.18 pm, she realised one of the tyres had a puncture. It was then Areef, the prime accused in the case, approached the doctor on the pretext of getting the scooter fixed.
Another accused Jollu Shiva took her scooter, on the pretext of getting it repaired, and came back after some time and told her that all the repair shops were closed.
"They raped the girl. She died because of accused had covered her mouth and nose during the crime," the Cyberabad police commissioner said. The accused then purchased petrol and burnt the victim's body.
Cyberabad police commissioner VC Sajjanar said, "Our officer took them into a patrol vehicle and scanned the CCTV footage. The victim was also seen in the CCTV footage of the plaza. At around 3 pm, the family was brought back to book an official complaint. Till 5 am, we searched all puncture shops. The body was found at around 7 am."
I AM SCARED: DOCTOR TOLD SISTER ON CALL
According to police, the victim had gone to the hospital and returned home on Wednesday evening. She again left at around 5.50 pm to visit another clinic and parked her two-wheeler near Shamshabad toll plaza and took a shared cab.
Her younger sister in her police complaint had said she got a call from her sibling at 9.22 pm on Wednesday, stating she was still at the plaza as someone told her that her scooter had a flat tyre and offered to help her, taking the two-wheeler.
She also informed her sister that she was scared as there was a lorry in the vicinity and some people who had offered her help were near the vehicle, the complainant said.
"You please keep talking until my scooter comes back. They are all waiting outside. You please keep talking to me, I am scared," she was quoted as saying. The doctor then hung up, telling her sister that she would call soon.
The complainant said she called her sister again at around 9.44 pm, but the phone was switched off. When the doctor's family could not get in touch with the doctor, they drove to the toll plaza but could not find her there, after which, they approached the police.
On Thursday morning, her body was found near a culvert on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway, which is around 25 km from the toll plaza where she was last seen.
WHY DID SHE CALL SISTER NOT POLICE: TELANGANA MINISTER
In a shocking remark on the rape and murder of the veterinary doctor, Telangana Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali asked why the "educated" doctor called her sister and not the police. He also said the victim should have called the police instead of calling her sister.
As per reports, Mohammad Mahmood Ali said the "doctor was educated" and it was "unfortunate" that the deceased veterinary doctor dialed her family and not the police.
"We are saddened by the incident; police are alert and controlling crime. It is unfortunate that she called her sister and not '100', had she called '100' she could have been saved."
He later clarified his remarks saying she was like his own daughter.
"I'm deeply saddened by the mishap. She was like my own daughter. Stringent punishment will be given to culprit. When I met her parents, tears rolled down my eyes as well," the Telangana minister said.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi expressed shock about the rape and murder of the woman in Telangana.
"How anyone could subject another human being to such terrible, unprovoked violence is beyond imagination. My thoughts & prayers are with the victim's family at this time of immense grief," he tweeted.
Meanwhile, Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said he has been in regular touch with officials of the Telangana government so that those involved in the woman's murder were punished.
"The Ministry of Home Affairs will send an advisory to all states as a precautionary measure so that no such incident takes place in future," he told reporters outside Parliament in New Delhi.
BURNT BODY OF ANOTHER WOMAN FOUND IN SAME AREA
Another burnt body of a woman was found in the same area just hours after the Cyberabad Police arrested four men in connection with the rape and murder of a doctor in Telangana. The dead body was found near a temple at a deserted place.
Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjana said, "Body was found in an open area on the outskirts of Shamshabad. It is being moved to a government hospital." It is yet to be established if the woman was sexually assaulted.
A case has been registered by the Samshabad Police and a probe has been initiated in the case.