HYDERABAD: Relatives of the veterinarian raped and murdered by four youngsters said the police had delayed in investigating their missing complaint.
The swiftness they showed initially weakened with time, and the situation would have been different had they continued with the same spirit, they alleged.
The victim’s sister said that after the victim’s mobile phone was switched off, she waited for a while and went to the toll plaza.
“I was at work when she called the last time. My superiors arranged a vehicle, and a colleague and I went to the toll plaza. We searched there and inquired with passers-by, but nobody had any clue,” she said.
Around 11 pm on Wednesday, they went to the RGI Airport police station and informed the night-duty staff.
They collected the details, and along with the victim’s sister and her colleague, rushed to the toll plaza.
While one of them was inquiring with people there, the others took them to the CCTV control room.
They found that the victim parked her scooter and walked to ORR, but could not track her return.
The officials said the victim couldn’t have returned from the hospital.
When they returned to the RGI Airport police station to lodge a formal complaint, they were told they had to go to the Shamshabad police station due to jurisdiction issues. Only once they lodged a complaint there did the investigation begin.
First police respondents did not search open plot
Further, it was found that the police teams that first visited the toll plaza inquired with people there, but did not make any effort to search the open plot just beside it.
Besides, from the time the victim’s sister visited the RGI airport police station at 11 pm till she reached the Shamshabad police station around 2.45 am on Thursday, she was in the company of only male personnel, with no women staff to accompany her or collect details.
The victim’s sister further stated that the police also asked if the victim had a boyfriend or if she regularly kept in touch with men.
They also asked if she spoke on her mobile phone for long durations.
The victim’s mother, a homemaker, demanded that the accused be burnt alive in full public view, in the same way her daughter was killed.
“She was an innocent girl and reached this level by a lot of hard work, but was killed by the evil desires of a few drunkards. No punishment to the killers can reduce her pain and the pain we are going through now. Only death as a punishment can be justified,” she said.
Further, the family members alleged that when they went to lodge a missing complaint, the night-duty staff looked at them in such a way that made them feel uncomfortable.