I'm scared, don't hang up: Hyderabad vet to her sister before being raped and murdered
"You please keep talking until my scooter comes back. They [the strangers] are all waiting outside. You please keep talking to me, I am scared," she told her younger sister.
November 27, like any other day it was the same regular day for this Hyderabad family. But little did they know it turned out to be the most horrific day of their life when they found their doctor daughter's charred body under a bridge (approximately 26 km from her home). The details are a chilling reminder of December 16 Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case where a 27-year-old veterinarian had gone missing after she left from her workplace. Investigations revealed that on her way back home, she was gang-raped and murdered by four persons who offered to help her repair her punctured two-wheeler.
Soon after details of the shocking gangrape case emerged and made headlines across the country, people took to social media to express their anger and demand urgent action in the case. Her father has called for the perpetrators to be hanged, while her mother wants them to be publicly burned alive. Her charred corpse was 70 per cent burnt and her remains were identified by a locket she wore around her neck.
The last call
On Wednesday (November 27), the victim left her home around 5 pm. Around 9.22 pm, she called her younger sister from the toll plaza (Tondapalli Toll Plaza) where she had parked her scooter. She told her sister that her scooter had a flat tyre and that two strangers had offered to help her.
According to the younger sister, the victim was feeling scared as nobody was around and that some truck drivers were staring at her.
"You please keep talking until my scooter comes back. They [the strangers] are all waiting outside. You please keep talking to me, I am scared."
Her sister had advised her to come to the toll plaza and return home by a cab. However, the doctor’s phone was switched off when her sister tried to call her later
At 10 pm, the younger sister realized that something was wrong and went to Tondapalli Toll Plaza to search for her elder sister.
The worried family
When the family reached the Toll Plaza they could’nt find their daughter. They first approached RGIA police station from where they were directed to go to Shamshabad police station. The police on duty told the family that the said area was not under their jurisdiction. Finally, a couple of constables were attached to the family members and searches were carried out till 4am on Wednesday but they were not able to trace the victim.
The father said the police asked him to check if the woman had reported to the clinic she worked at.
"My daughter could have been saved had the police acted on time and searched for her in the vicinity," the father of the deceased said.
"I pleaded with the constables present at the police station to accompany me for the search of my daughter," the father said, adding "the police officials came with me at 3 am."
On Thursday morning, her clothes, handbag, footwear and a liquor bottle were found by the police near the toll booth where she had parked her bike. Her body was found with 70 per cent burns under a bridge, in neighouring Ranga Reddy district, 30 km from the toll booth.
The conspiracy
Police suspect the vehicle was deliberately punctured by the culprits to trap the victim. They took her to the secluded place near the Tondupally toll gate, raped her between the parked trucks and killed her.
Aftermath
Cyberabad police have taken two truck drivers and two cleaners into custody and recovered the victim's clothes, footwear and a liquor bottle near the toll plaza, where the veterinarian had parked her two-wheeler. The accused, identified as Mohd Pasha, Naveen, Keshavulu and Shiva, were caught after scanning the CCTV footage from surveillance cameras installed near the toll plaza. According to reports one held is a minor.
Meanwhile....
In an atrocious remark, Telangana Home Minister minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali has asked why did the girl not call the police but her family. The girl was educated and she should have dialled 100 but she called her family, Mehboob Ali told reporters in Hyderabad. The Telangana home minister, however, did not explain why the police did not act for almost four hours and reach the spot despite the girl's father lodging a complain at 11 pm on the night of the tragedy.
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