
Four men accused of being gang rapists have been shot dead by police in India after they allegedly tried to escape while reenacting the crime.

Police say lorry drivers Mohammad Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu tried to seize their weapons and escape while carrying out the reenactment in a field near Hyderabad on Friday.

As news of the deaths spread, crowds gathered and broke into wild celebrations - setting off firecrackers and showering police with flower petals.

But prominent lawyers protested, saying officers had circumvented justice. Police in India are often accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings in order to appease an angry public in high-profile cases.

News of the crime - in which a veterinary doctor was gang-raped, murdered and her corpse burned after he scooter broke down - had previously caused widespread protests.

Four men accused of gang raping, murdering and then burning the corpse of a veterinary doctor whose scooter had broken down have been shot dead in India after police say the men tried to steal their weapons and escape

Police said the four lorry drivers had been taken to a field on the outskirts of Hyderabad to reenact the crime when they tried to take weapons from the police, and were shot

The men were accused of posing as passersby to help a female veterinary doctor after her scooter broke down - when in fact police say they deliberately broke the scooter before dragging her away and raping her

The field where the men were shot dead is the same one where the woman's charred corpse was found on Thursday last week, after the men allegedly strangled her, doused her remains in petrol, then set them alight

Police officers and inspectors stand guard over the bodies of two of the alleged rapists on the outskirts of Hyderabad

The killings prompted wild celebrations, but also condemnation in a country where officers are routinely accused of killing suspects to circumvent the courts in high-profile cases

Jollu Naveen (left), Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu (second left), Jollu Shiva (second right) and Mohammad Areef (right) had been accused of brutally raping and killing the woman after her scooter broke down and they offered to help

Police officers were showered with petals by people happy that the men had been killed, but several prominent lawyers criticised the move

Police in India are often accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings in high profile cases in order to assuage public anger

Flowers were also scattered on the site where the woman's badly burned remains were found on Thursday last week

Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar briefing media

Police found the badly burned remains of the woman under a culvert on the outskirts of the southern city of Hyderabad on Thursday last week.

Officers say the four accused were sitting in a lorry and drinking when they noticed the victim pull up nearby on a scooter and go into a clinic.

They say while the woman was inside the four men conspired to rape her and slashed the back tyre of the scooter to prevent her from leaving.

When she discovered the damage, the men allegedly posed as passersby who were willing to help, with Jollu Shiva taking the scooter away so it could be repaired.

Officers say Shiva actually dumped the scooter, then returned to the scene where the group allegedly dragged the woman into an abandoned compound where they believe the rape took place.

The woman had texted her sister before the attack to say she had broken down and was worried about the men, but they turned the device off before the sister could establish where she was.

Police say 25-year-old Jollu Naveen, the main accused, then forced the woman to drink alcohol to stop her screaming before all four men raped her.

At some point during the attack she fell unconscious and when she woke up again she began screaming, so Naveen placed his hand over her nose and mouth and suffocated her, police said.

The men then hid her body in their truck while they bought petrol, drove to a nearby culvert, doused the remains and set them on fire.

After the woman was reported missing, police used CCTV to track her movements, traced the suspects, and located her remains.

The men were taken into custody last week, before the reenactment early on Friday morning.

A schoolgirl lights firecrackers as she celebrates along with others after police personnel shot dead four detained gang-rape and murder suspects

People offer pedas sweets to Gujarat police as they celebrate the killing of four gang rape and murder suspects on Friday

As news of the shooting spread, a large crowd gathered by the side of the road next to the field and people began celebrating

Indian people cheer the police and hurl flowers after gathering on an embankment overlooking the scene of the shooting

People celebrate after police personnel shot dead four detained gang-rape and murder suspects near Hyderabad

Indian police shot dead four detained gang-rape and murder suspects as they were re-enacting their alleged crime, prompting outrage but also wild celebrations

'They were killed in crossfire. They tried to snatch weapons from the guards but were shot dead,' deputy police commissioner Prakash Reddy told AFP.

The four were accused of raping, murdering and burning the body of the woman, a 27-year-old veterinary doctor, who had parked her scooter on a busy highway in November.

The men deflated her scooter tyre and lured her to a truck yard with the promise of fixing the machine, according to police.

They allegedly then raped and murdered the woman before setting the body on fire under an isolated bridge.

The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had called her sister informing her that she was scared of the men who had offered to help her before her phone went off.

The case sparked widespread demonstrations and calls for swift and tough justice, with social media swamped with demands for them to be put to death.

Shortly after their arrest hundreds of protesters also tried to storm the Hyderabad police station where the four accused were held.

At one demonstration in Delhi, some women wielded swords while in parliament one lawmaker called for the men to be 'lynched' and another for rapists to be castrated.

Several hundred people flocked to the scene of the men's deaths on Friday, setting off firecrackers to celebrate and showering police with flower petals.

The victim's sister also welcomed the killings.

'I am happy the four accused have been killed in an encounter. This incident will set an example. I thank the police and media for their support,' the sister told local television station.

There were other reports of people celebrating the shootings from several parts of the country.

Police said the men tried to steal their weapons and run away, and were shot dead

People gather near the site where four men suspected of raping and killing a woman were killed

Police block an area near the site where they shot dead four detained gang-rape and murder suspects on Friday

An Indian woman offers sweets to a policeman as a mark of respect after all four men accused in the rape and murder of a Hyderabad veterinarian were killed by police

Indian women burn crackers after all four men accused in the rape and murder of a Hyderabad veterinarian were killed

However rights activists accused the government of using 'arbitrary violence' to avoid accountability.

Police in India are often accused of using extra-judicial killings to bypass the legal process, often as a cover-up in botched investigations or to pacify public anger.

'This is absolutely unacceptable,' lawyer and activist Vrinda Grover told AFP.

'There must be accountability of the police. Instead of investigation and prosecution the state is committing murders to distract public and avoid accountability,' she said.

More than 33,000 rapes were reported in India in 2017, according to the latest government figures, but vast numbers go unreported, experts say.

At the same time, a huge backlog of cases in the highly inefficient Indian criminal justice means that many victims wait years for their attackers to be convicted.