Janjivan Bureau / Hyderabad : The killing of the four accused in the rape and murder case of the Hyderabad vet in an encounter on Friday morning has received mixed reactions.
People distributed sweets and showered flower petals at the site of the encounter hailing the action of Telangana Police of shooting dead the gang-rape accused.
Tripti Desai of the Bhumata Brigade welcomed the encounter and justified the decision to shoot dead the accused while they tried to run away.
She had sat on a dharna outside the house of the Chief Minister and was detained for raising anti-police slogans. She now said that she was satisfied with the action and justice to the victim.
At the same time, there is speculation on the authenticity of the encounter. Many people on social media doubted the veracity of the encounter.
NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma said though the women rights body wanted death penalty for the accused, it should have come through proper judicial channel.
“We wanted death penalty but it should have been through judicial channel. I do not know under what circumstances they were shot and this has to come out after the inquiry. So only the police can tell the truth or after the inquiry it would come out,” the National Commission for Women chief said.
Meanwhile, several rights activists said the police could not act like a lynch mob under any circumstance.
The encounter is an attempt by authorities to distract people from the government’s failures to safeguard women’s rights, the activists said.
According to Kavita Krishnan, secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association, this is not justice but a “ploy” to shut down demands for accountability from the police, judiciary, governments, and justice and dignity for women.
“Instead of being accountable to his job and answering our questions about his government’s failures to safeguard women’s rights, the Telangana CM and his police have acted as leaders of a lynch mob,” she said.
She described the incident as the admittance of utter incompetence on the part of the entire political and police system and accused Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao of deflecting the “whole issue”.
“We are asking tough questions to the police and to the government. In order to avoid answering these questions it is an attempt to say justice has been done,” she said.
Krishnan said the police personnel responsible must be arrested and prosecuted.
Annie Raja, general secretary of the National Federation of Indian Woman (NFIW), called for a high-level inquiry.
“Why in spite of having all legislations in place in the country are governments failing to implement them. Definitely it was a distraction. It was an attempt to divert attention from the issue. A high-level inquiry in the matter is needed,” she said.
Lawyer and rights activist Vrinda Grover termed the incident “absolutely unacceptable”. She asked for an independent judicial inquiry into the incident.
Human rights activist Shabnam Hashmi, founding member of ANHAD (Act Now for Harmony and Democracy), agreed that it might be an attempt by the government to distract people.
