Preserve bodies, give autopsy video of Telangana rape-accused: High Court
Manglore Today News Network
New Delhi, Dec 07, 2019: The bodies of the four men accused of gang-raping and murdering a 27-year-old veterinarian, who were killed by the police in a pre-dawn firing on Friday, will be preserved till Monday, 8 pm, the Telangana High Court has ruled in an emergency hearing. The accused, in their twenties, had attacked a team of investigators and snatched their weapons when they were brought to the crime scene near Hyderabad in connection with the probe, the police said on Friday, adding they had been killed in the crossfire, NDTV reported.
A two-judge bench has also ordered to video-record the autopsies of the accused. The recording would have to be submitted to the registrar by this evening, the court further ruled.
"The Principal District Judge, Mahaboobnagar, is directed to receive the same and hand it over to the Registrar General of the High Court of Telangana by tomorrow (Saturday) evening," reads the order.
The bench will hear the case at 10:30 am on Monday.
On November 27, the men - Mohammed Arif (26), Jollu Shiva (20), Jollu Naveen (20) and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu (20) - saw the 27-year-old woman park her scooter near a toll-booth on a busy highway. They allegedly deflated her scooter tyre and offered to help fix her scooter. Then they gang-raped her, strangled her and burnt her body to destroy evidence, according to the police.
The grisly crime had sparked national outrage, with the public and parliamentarians demanding death by hanging to the accused. Jaya Bachchan, a Rajya Sabha MP, went as far as to say that they should be lynched.
On Friday morning, the accused had been taken to the site of the crime for investigation when they attacked the police and snatched weapons, Cyberabad police chief VC Sajjanar said. "We had to fire in retaliation," he said, adding, "The law has done its duty".
Several celebrities and even politicians have praised the police but many sounded caution on the controversial shooting.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said it will send a team led by a senior police officer to Telangana to investigate the matter.