Shadnagar rape case: Police to seek maximum punishment for accused

A day after Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao announced setting up of a fast track court for expeditious trial in the case of rape and murder of a veterinarian near Hyderabad, the police on Monday said they would seek maximum punishment for the four accused.

After visiting the scene of the crime and reviewing the progress of the case, Director-General of Police M Mahender Reddy on Sunday night asked the department to complete the investigation in a time-bound manner, the police said.

“The DGP sir gave us some instructions… Investigation is going on… In a time-bound manner we will complete it”, a senior police official said. The police too were in the process of requesting the Law Ministry for setting up of a fast track to try the four accused, the officer added.

The charred body of the 25-year-old woman, who worked as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital, was found under a culvert in Shadnagar near here on November 28, a day after she went missing.

Four men, all lorry workers, aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on November 29 on charges of raping and killing the woman and sent to judicial custody for 14 days on Saturday. They are currently kept in solitary confinement in Cherlapally Prison here in high-security cells and put under heightened surveillance.

On Sunday, Chief Minister Rao assured all help to the victim’s family.

Meanwhile, Cyberabad Police have appealed to the media not to telecast continuously programmes on the murder of the woman and avoid use of her name as it suggested the hashtag “#Justice for Disha” in the social media.

Police said they were also planning to file a petition in court shortly seeking the custody of the four accused for further interrogation.

The incident had triggered outrage with the public staging protests and a section of them hurling stones at a police vehicle when the four were escorted to the prison from a police station on Friday.

(With input from agencies)