Telangana: Cops said she has eloped, murdered doctor's family alleges police apathy

If the testimony of the victim's family is to be believed, the police could have saved her only if they acted on time.

A young girl is abducted, raped, killed and set ablaze. Meanwhile, the police are busy trying to decide the jurisdiction. The murder of a 26-year-old woman doctor in Hyderabad has shook the nation. As the civil rights activists are calling for justice, state Home Minister Mohammad Mahmood Ali claimed that she could have been saved if she called the police instead of her sister when she felt unsafe.

If the testimony of the victim's family is to be believed, the police could have saved her only if they acted on time. The family has told India Today TV that they were made to run pillar to post between different police stations and wait for several hours before two constables were given as ride alongs to search for their missing daughter. The family says that the police initially refused to help them and claimed that she has eloped with someone.

"The police kept delaying the matter. They kept us waiting for three hours, two constables went looking for my daughter but failed. The police apathy costs us our daughter," the victim's father said. He told India Today TV that when they went to Rajiv Gandhi International police station, which is nearest to their house, they were told to go to Shamshabad rural police station as the toll plaza - the victim's last known location - came under their jurisdiction.

A resident of Hyderabad's Shamshabad area, the doctor had left her work as usual on Wednesday evening. But the next day her charred body was found under a bridge near a toll plaza. Evidence on the site suggests the victim was sexually assaulted. The police have confirmed rape after investigation.

According to her younger sister, one of the tyre of the doctor's scooty had punctured shortly after she crossed a toll plaza at the Bengaluru-Hyderabad highway. The doctor had called her sister and told her that two men, lorry drivers, had offered to help her fix the scooty.

"She told me that someone has taken her bike and they will get it repaired. She told me that they took it for the second time, the first time they went and said that the shops were closed. They brought it back and it took again, assuring that they will get it done somewhere else," the younger sister said, adding that when she called her back 20 minutes later, her phone was switched off.

A local mechanic has confirmed that a man came to his shop at around 9.30 pm to get the puncture repaired.

The family contacted the police at 10.22 pm after they failed to contact her. Despite repeated requests, the police gave just two constables who failed to locate her, the family said.

The body of the victim was reported by a local resident on Thursday morning. The police connected the two cases only after going through missing person cases.

The Cyberabad Police have launched an investigation and deployed 10 teams in the cases, even as it had earlier claimed that the incident did not come under jurisdiction.

Police have said that four accused, all lorry drivers, have been taken into custody.

"We have found some clues from the CCTV footage and after examining some witnesses. We have deployed 10 teams on this under the supervision of the DCP," VC Sajjanar, Cyberabad Commissioner said.

Reacting on the family's allegation of police apathy, the senior cop said that the department will investigate the matter.