S Raja Reddy By

Express News Service

ADILABAD: The three accused in the Samatha rape and murder case have been sentenced to death. A special court for trial of cases under SC/ST Act on Thursday imposed the death penalty on the three accused for raping and killing the 30-year-old Dalit woman.

Special court judge MG Priyadarshini, delivering the judgment, described the crime as the ‘most heinous’.

The verdict, however, has to be confirmed by the Telangana High Court, before it becomes actionable. The convicts have been given one month’s time to go in for an appeal in the High Court against the trial court’s judgment.

The incident occurred on November 24 on the outskirts of Yellapattar in Lingapoor mandal in Asifabad district when the three convicts -- Sheik Shabuddin, Sheik Babu and Sheik Maqdum -- raped the woman and killed her.

Though the complaint was filed in November, the police investigation picked up pace given the public outrage over the incident after Disha’s case, where she was raped and murdered near Hyderabad in December. District Superintendent of Police M Malla Reddy said that the entire process was completed in 67 days.

The victim’s husband had lodged a missing complaint with Jainoor police on November 24.

The next day, the police had found her body in a farm owned by one Jadhav Ganeshwar on the outskirts of Yellapatar village.

The accused had raped the woman, who was a vendor who visited villages to sell small articles, slit her throat and had broken her ribs with a blunt object before fleeing the spot with her mobile phone and `200 cash.

The chargesheet filed in the case ran up to 143 pages with 44 articles of evidences. The police had filed cases under Sections 302, 376 D, and 404 of the IPC and Section 3(2)(v) of the SC, ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The High Court appointed a fast track court on December 12 to deal with the case and the Kumrambheem-Asifabad police filed chargesheet on January 14. From December 23 to 31, the statements of the witnesses were recorded, while arguments by the defence and prosecution were heard from January 10 to 20.

After the verdict on Thursday, all the three accused were shifted to Cherlapally jail in Hyderabad for security reasons.

This is the second death sentence awarded by the court in the erstwhile Adilabad district after a long time. The last one was awarded in 1974-75.

Meanwhile, the victim’s husband and a few others welcomed the judgment, while appealing for swift justice in rape cases.