New Delhi: Hyderabad police arrested the accused persons involved in the alleged rape and murder of a woman veterinary doctor in Telangana on Friday. The charred body of the 27-year-old woman was found under a culvert near Hyderabad on Thursday, a day after she went missing, police said.
The burnt body of the woman, working as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital, was noticed by some passers-by who alerted police.
Members of her family, who had filed a missing complaint after she did not return home by 10.20 pm on Wednesday, identified the body, police said.
Police said she had gone to the hospital and returned home on Wednesday evening. She again left around 5.50 pm to go to another clinic and parked her two-wheeler near Shamshabad toll plaza and took a shared cab.
Her younger sister in a complaint lodged with police said she got a call from her sister at 9.22 pm stating that she was still at the plaza as someone told her that her scooter had a flat tyre and offered to help her, taking the two-wheeler.
The complainant said her sister told her that after sometime the person returned saying all shops were closed and he will try to get it repaired in some other place.
She also informed her sister that she was scared as there was a lorry in the vicinity and some people who had offered her help were near the vehicle, the complainant said.
The complainant said she called her again at 9.44 pm but the phone was switched off following which they approached police.
The body was found near the culvert on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway, which is around 25 km from the toll plaza where she was last seen, police said.
Cyberabad Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar said ten teams have been formed to crack the case.
He said police were verifying CCTV footage and suspect involvement of least two persons behind the woman’s disappearance.
The incident has invoked strong sentiments on social media from women and politicians. Rightwing participants, however, have sought to draw attention to the religion of the alleged accused.
The Telangana home minister, meanwhile, has come in the way of criticism for saying that the woman should have called the police helpline of ‘100’ and not her sister.
G Kishan Reddy, MoS Home: A veterinary doctor was raped & murdered in Hyderabad. Speaking to state govt&Police to get culprits capital punishment. It’s a matter of grave worry that a woman was subjected to such brutality. We’ll give sufficient assistance from centre where needed. pic.twitter.com/hZyVPVOs1b
— ANI (@ANI) November 29, 2019
I’m shocked to hear about the brutal rape & murder of #DrPriyankaReddy in Hyderabad. How anyone could subject another human being to such terrible, unprovoked violence is beyond imagination. My thoughts & prayers are with the victim’s family at this time of immense grief.
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) November 29, 2019
(With PTI inputs)