telangana

Updated: Dec 01, 2019 20:08 IST

Telangana government has ordered setting up of a fast track court to try the case of the Hyderabad veterinary doctor, who was gang-raped and murdered brutally by four men on the city outskirts on November 27, said a statement from the chief minister’s office.

According to the statement, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao also described the incident as “ghastly” and sought “stringent punishment” for the culprits while promising all help to the family of the dead woman.

The decision to fast track the case follows nationwide protests and a chorus for speedy justice from across societal groups and a decision by the local district bar association to not represent the four accused the case.

The four accused, all lorry workers, were booked under Sections 376D (gangrape), 302 (murder), 201 (destroying evidence) of the Indian Penal Code after their arrest on November 29.

The charred body of the woman, working as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital was found under a culvert in Shadnagar on Thursday morning, a day after she went missing.

Three policemen, including a sub-inspector, were suspended on Saturday after a detailed inquiry found that they delayed the registration of an FIR when approached by the family of the missing woman on the intervening night of November 27 and 28.

The victim’s kin alleged police wasted time arguing if the case fell in their jurisdiction instead of acting fast to actually save her.

The incident led to instant outrage and protests across the country including outside Shadnagar Police station on the outskirts of Ranga Reddy district in Telangana.

Union minister of state for home, G Kishan Reddy, had said on Saturday that the Indian Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure will be amended to expedite trial in grave criminal offences such as rape and murder. Speaking to reporters after visiting the victim’s family, he said the Centre was considering a suggestion that the conviction in such cases by trial courts may be challenged only in the Supreme Court.