3 policemen suspended in Hyderabad vet's rape and murder case

The police personnel were suspended for delay in registering a missing persons case when the victim’s family approached them.

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Following the horrific gang-rape and murder of a 26-year-old veterinary doctor in the outskirts of Hyderabad, the Cyberabad police on Saturday suspended three policemen, including a sub-inspector, for the delay in registering a missing persons case of the victim.

As per the police press note, Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar said the police personnel were suspended for dereliction of duty. The Commissioner said that a detailed inquiry has found that they delayed the registration of an FIR relating to the missing woman on the intervening night of November 27 and 28.

The suspended police personnel are: M Ravi Kumar, Sub-Inspector of Police, Shamshabad Police Station, P Venu Gopal Reddy and A Sathyanarayana Goud, both head-constables at Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) Police Station.

"All the officers of Cyberabad Police have been once again instructed to register cases irrespective of jurisdiction whenever a complaint related to cognisable offence is received at the police station," said the Commissioner.

The family of the victim had earlier alleged that the police did not respond quickly when they approached them to lodge the missing complaint at 11 pm. They said the police wasted a lot of time over jurisdiction issue between two police stations, besides asking them inappropriate questions.

The victim's mother had told TNM, “The police spoke to us very rudely, in a disgusting manner. They kept saying she would have gone with someone. I kept saying my daughter is not like that, but they didn’t listen. Their apathy cost us our daughter, they didn’t do what they should have.”

Besides speaking rudely to the family, police also allegedly suggested that the victim could have eloped. The victim's sister had told TNM, “I understand that the police need to look at all angles in an investigation, but they were so sure that my sister voluntarily went somewhere, and didn’t take my concerns seriously. That is wrong.”

According to the National Commissioner for Women (NCW), the police asked the victim's mother if she had an affair with anyone. The NCW took cognizance of the incident and had sent a team headed by panel member Shyamala K Sundar to look into the case.

Slamming the police for allegedly delaying the inquiry, the NCW members said that the police played a 'negative role' in the investigation. They further asked the state government to start the State Women’s Commission with immediate effect.

The NCW members also pointed out that there were no women officers in the team probing the case and police did not give protection to the family.

The victim's family had approached the police one-and-half hours after she had called her sister from her mobile phone, stating that she was stranded near a toll gate at Shamshabad as her two-wheeler was punctured. The victim also told her that she was feeling scared as the place was deserted.

IANS inputs

Read: Tracing the night Hyderabad vet was raped and killed: What eye-witnesses recall