The men had been in police custody and were shot near the scene of the crime during a reconstruction

This article is more than 9 months old

This article is more than 9 months old

Indian police have shot dead the four men accused of the brutal gang rape of a young vet in Hyderabad in circumstances that have been described as “suspicious”.

The four had become high-profile objects of hatred within the country, following their alleged premeditated attack on a 27-year-old veterinary doctor last Wednesday.

According to the police, the accused – Mohammad Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen, and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu – were taking part in a reconstruction of the crime in the early hours of Friday morning when they tried to escape and were shot by officers.

However, the lack of clarity around the incident is indicative of an extrajudicial police killing – something not uncommon in India.

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The rape and murder case prompted a wave of public vitriol across the country, with thousands taking to the streets in protest and calls from politicians and the public for the men to be lynched.

They were accused of deflating the victim’s scooter tyres and lying in wait for her at an isolated spot by a motorway toll road. Her attackers approached her offering help, then dragged her to some bushes where they gang-raped her, asphyxiated her until she died and then drove her body to an underpass where they set it alight.

N Prakash Reddy, a deputy commissioner of police in Shamshabad, said: “In the morning, at around 6-6.30, our persons have come to reconstruct the scene of crime and the accused have tried to snatch their weapons, and there was a cross-fire. In this, all the four accused have died. Two policemen have been injured.”

Reddy’s account contradicted an earlier police version of events stating the attempted escape and shootings happened at 3.30am.

The rape victim’s family welcomed the news. “It has been 10 days to the day my daughter died. I express my gratitude towards the police and government for this. My daughter’s soul must be at peace now,” the woman’s father told the Indian news agency ANI. The victim’s name cannot be reported under Indian law.

The killing of the suspects drew widespread support in India, where faith in the criminal justice system is low.

Crimes against women have continued unabated despite tough laws enacted after the 2012 gang-rape and murder of a woman in a bus in Delhi. Fast-track courts have been set up but cases have moved slowly, for lack of witnesses and the inability of many families to go through the long legal process. Some victims and their families have ended up being attacked for pursuing cases against powerful men, often local politicians.

However, there was also strong criticism of the police for appearing to take the law into their own hands. Indian police have frequently been accused of extra-judicial killings, called “encounters”, especially in gangland wars in Mumbai and insurrections in the state of Punjab and in disputed Kashmir. Police officers involved in such killings were called “encounter specialists” and were the subject of several movies.

The All India Progressive Women’s Association condemned the manner in which the accused men died.

“We, as a country, will now be told that ‘justice’ has been done, the victim avenged … But this justice is counterfeit,” the association said in a statement.

The group said deaths of the four men at the hands of the police was telling women “we can’t ensure the streets are safe, can’t investigate crimes against women to ensure there’s enough evidence to prove guilt, can’t protect rape survivors , can’t ensure that survivors get dignity in court.”

Amnesty International India agreed, saying extrajudicial killings “are not a solution to preventing rape”.

The Delhi chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, said the killings set a worrying precedent. “Together all the governments will have to take action on how to strengthen the criminal justice system,” he said.

On social media, many Indians expressed satisfaction with the actions of the police and in Hyderabad locals showered rose petals on the officers who shot the suspects.

Asha Devi, the mother of the woman known as Nirbhaya who died in the notorious 2012 gang-rape on a bus in Delhi told Indian media she was “extremely happy with this punishment. The police have done a great job and I demand that no action should be taken against the police personnel.”

“The brutes deserved it for the inhuman horrific crime they committed,” wrote the actor Nikhil Sihhhartha.