The rape and murder of the 27-year-old veterinarian had triggered outrage across the country. When it was raised in Parliament, members had suggested measures like lynching and death penalty for the accused.
The four accused, arrested on November 29, were in judicial custody and lodged in high-security cells at Cherlapally Central Prison. They were charged under IPC sections 302 (murder), 375 (rape) and 362 (abduction). On Wednesday, the Telangana government set up a fast track court to try the four accused in the case. The court of First Additional District and Sessions Judge in Mahabubnagar district had been allotted the case.
Expressing gratitude to the Telangana Police, the victim's father told news agency ANI, "It has been 10 days to the day my daughter died. I express my gratitude towards the police & govt for this. My daughter's soul must be at peace now."
The veterinarian went missing from Shamshabad toll plaza, near Hyderabad, on November 27. The four accused raped and then burnt her to death, the police have said. Her burnt body was recovered the following day.
As per the initial probe, the four had "hatched a plan" to ambush the victim after she returned from work to pick up her scooter from Tondupally toll plaza. After the accused deflated the tyre, two others offered to help her. When she agreed, they dragged her into the bushes barely 50 metres from Tondupally toll plaza, behind a line of trucks that obscured visibility from the road, police said. The accused, after killing her, took her body to an under-construction bridge in Chattapally, a few kilometres away, where they set it on fire, the police said.
The police were criticised for making the family members of the victim run around over jurisdiction. The family had also alleged that had the cops took note of their complaint and taken action immediately, she might have been saved. The sub-inspector, as well as two head constables of Shamshabad police station, were suspended for dereliction of duty.
