26-year-old Hyderabad Veterinarian raped; charred body found behind trucks

Hyderabad, Nov 29: A 26-year-old veterinary doctor was brutally murdered and her charred body was found under a culvert near near Shadnagar town, Hyderabad on Thursday.

Police said four people have been arrested in connection with the rape and murder, which has sparked a national outrage.

According to police, the victim had gone to the hospital and returned home on Wednesday evening. She again left around 5.50 PM to visit another clinic and parked her two-wheeler near Shamshabad toll plaza and took a shared cab.

Her younger sister in her police complaint had said she got a call from her sibling at 9.22 PM on Wednesday, stating 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.

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 sister again at 9.44 PM, but the phone was switched off following which they approached the police.

The body was found near a culvert on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway, which is around 25 km from the toll plaza where she was last seen.

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi expressed shock about the rape and murder of the woman. "...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," he tweeted.

Meanwhile, state Home Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali stoked a controversy with his reported remarks that the victim should have called the police rather than her sister.

However, sources close to Ali, who visited the parents of the veterinarian, said he was only trying to say police intervention could have helped her. He expressed anguish over the incident and asserted that the culprits would be handed out tough punishment.

"This girl is like my daughter. I feel sad over the incident...police are investigating," he said.

Centre to send advisory after murder of veterinarian in Hyderabad

The Centre on Friday said it will send an advisory to all states to take precautionary steps to check crime against women in the wake of the murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad.

Union Minister of State for Home G Kishan Reddy said he has been in regular touch with officials of the Telangana government so that those who were involved in the woman's murder are caught and punished.

"The Ministry of Home Affairs will send an advisory to all states as a precautionary measure so that no such incident takes place in future," he told reporters outside Parliament.

Reddy said the culprit should be arrested and given capital punishment.

"On behalf of the central government, I am talking to the state government officials. The Telangana DGP is also coming to Delhi today and he will meet me. Those who were involved in the crime should be socially boycotted and no lawyer should represent them," he said.