Daughter's soul must be at peace now: Telangana victim's father

Hyderabad: The father of the young veterinarian in Hyderabad who was brutally gang raped and murdered, on Friday said that he was greatful to the police and government for the encounter which killed the accused in the case.

He added that his daughter's soul must be at peace now while speaking to reporters at his residence in Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

Reacting to the killing of the four accused in the encounter, the victim's sister said they welcomed it.

“We are happy. We did not expect this. We thought they would be hanged through courts.”

"We thank everyone who stood by us. With this incident people should be scared to indulge in such crimes (against women),” she added.

There was a sense of closure for the victim's family as they heard the news Friday morning that the accused were shot dead by the Telangana Police at the same spot where her body was set afire after the gang rape on November 27.

The father thanked the Telangana government, police and all others who stood by them.

"I am not going to get back my daughter but this will definitely send a strong message. This will instill fear and criminals will not dare to do what my daughter had to go through," said he added.

The 25-year-old veterinarian was gang raped by four truck drivers and cleaners near the Outer Ring Road at Shamshabad on the night of November 27. They later dumped the body near Shadnagar town, about 28 km away, and set it afire.

The accused were shot dead early Friday morning when they allegedly tried to escape from the crime scene where the police had brought them to re-enact the incident.

Hyderabad police hailed by public

The killing of all four accused was hailed by people who were demanding justice for the victim.

Meanwhile, the mother of the Delhi gang rape victim from 2012 expressed her happiness with the encounter. She also appealed to the authorities to hang the culprits in the Nirbhaya case at the earliest.

Congress leader and Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor, however, said extra judicial killings were not acceptable.

"Agree in principle. We need to know more, for instance if the criminals were armed, the police may have been justified in opening fire preemptively. Until details emerge we should not rush to condemn. But extra-judicial killings are otherwise unacceptable in a society of laws," he tweeted.

Rekha Sharma, National Commission for Women chief, said she was happy that the perpetrators were dead, but justice should have been done through proper legal channels, she said.

Large number of people who gathered close to the 'encounter' scene near Shadnagar town raised slogans hailing Telangana police and Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar.

Some of them said the police delivered "instant justice" by eliminating the perpetrators of the gruesome crime.

Shadnagar town had witnessed massive protest on November 30, a day after the accused were arrested. The protesters who had gathered outside the police station, had demanded that the accused be handed over to them so that they could be dealt with.

Police had a tough time in controlling the crowd and they had to bring the magistrate to the police station to send the accused to judicial custody.

The protesters had pelted stones when the police were shifting the accused to Cherlapally Jail in Hyderabad.

(With inputs from PTI and IANS.)