After the four accused in the gangrape and murder case of a vet in Hyderabad were killed in a reported encounter, the family of the deceased woman, Disha*, expressed their gratitude towards the police and the government.
"It has been 10 days to the day my daughter died. They killed the accused in an encounter in 10 days. I express my gratitude towards the Telangana government, the police and those who supported us. My daughter's soul must be at peace now,” Disha’s father told the media.
“There should be a change in law that ensures rapists are hanged to death immediately. They should know this is what will happen to them if they even look at a woman,” Disha’s mother said.
Disha’s sister also expressed gratitude towards the police, the Telangana government, the media and everyone else who supported them.
“I didn’t expect that action will be taken so swiftly. We expected the case to go to court and the accused would be hanged, and justice would be served that way. We are happy, and I believe that others will now be scared to do something like this. I’m grateful for all the support; and this is the result of all the support,” the sister said.
She added, “These reactions should bring about a change, and this incident should serve as an example to ensure that what happened with Disha doesn’t happen with anyone else again.”
Disha’s friends and neighbours were also distributing sweets and bursting crackers.
“Thank you to the government and the police. Delhi police should learn from them. We are very happy here and are distributing sweets here. We used to be scared of approaching the police earlier, but now we’re not scared anymore, so thank you,” a neighbour said.
In the early hours of Friday, the four accused in the case -- Areef, Shiva, Naveen and Chennakeshavulu – were shot dead by the Telangana police in a reported encounter.
The reported encounter happened at the same place where Disha was gangraped and murdered. They were taken to the scene of the crime at Chatanpally, nearly 50 km away from Hyderabad, on Thursday to collect evidence of the crime.
Reports of the reported encounter surfaced on Friday morning. Additional DG Law and Order, Jitender, told TNM that the incident happened between 6 and 6.30 am on Friday.
DCP Prakash Reddy, who is at the scene of the incident, told TNM that there was crossfire as the accused took the guns of the policemen and attempted to escape.
Reacting to the reported encounter, the mother of Nirbhaya – the woman who died in the horrific gangrape in Delhi in 2012 – said that she is very happy with the news. “Police has done a great job and I demand that no action should be taken against the police personnel,” she said.
Nirbhaya’s father said, “I’m glad that the family will not have to suffer the way we are. No one should raise a finger on the police, the accused would have escaped if they would have not taken this step.”
On Wednesday, the Shadnagar court had remanded the four accused to seven days in police custody. The Hyderabad police on Monday had filed a petition in a local court at Shadnagar seeking 10-day custody of the accused for a more comprehensive interrogation. The court, on Wednesday, had granted a seven-day police custody of the accused.
*Names changed