HYDERABAD: The killing of four accused in gruesome gang-rape and murder of a woman veterinarian by the police near Hyderabad has not only been hailed by many but it has triggered demands for similar "punishment" to perpetrators of other heinous crimes in the country.
Families of at least five victims of rape and murder in different parts of Telangana demanded that the perpetrators be killed like the four who were gunned down by the police in an "encounter" on Friday near Shadnagar town.
The strongest demand came from Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district where a man allegedly raped and killed three girls during last four years.
Relatives of the victims and other residents of Hajipur village staged a sit-in to demand that Srinivas Reddy be eliminated in "encounter". They alleged that police were not doing enough to ensure early conviction.
The village was rocked by the serial rapes and killings in April this year. During the investigation into a missing case of 16-year-old schoolgirl, shocking facts had come to light.
The girl's body was recovered from a well on a field belonging to the accused near the village. The accused confessed to raping and killing the girl.
The interrogation of the accused revealed that he had also raped and killed two more girls. The body of a 20-year-old student, who had gone missing in March, was recovered from the same well.
The accused confessed to the rape and murder of 11-year-old girl in another village Mysireddypalli in the same district in 2015.
The investigations also revealed that the 27-year-old accused, a lift mechanic, was also involved in the murder of a woman in Kurnool town of neighbouring Andhra Pradesh in 2016.
Angry villagers of Hajipur had set ablaze Srinivas Reddy's house. They staged protests demanding stringent punishment to the accused. Senior officials had visited the village to demanding and assured the people that they will ensure harshest punishment to the guilty.
The accused is currently lodged in Nalgonda Jail.
Meanwhile, families of two women who were raped and killed last month also demanded that the perpetrators be killed like the accused in Hyderabad gang-rape and murder case.
People in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district took to street, demanding death for the guilty in the rape and murder of a Dalit woman. The 19-year-old married woman was killed after sexual assault on November 25. Three men were arrested in the case.
People also observed a shutdown in parts of the district on Saturday, demanding that the guilty be immediately hanged.
In Warangal, family of a teenager who was raped and killed by her boyfriend also demanded that justice be done to them by killing the perpetrator in the same manner as accused in Hyderabad case was shot dead.
The 19-year-old student was raped and killed by her boyfriend on her birthday on November 27, the same day when veterinarian was gang-raped and killed by four persons at Shamshabad on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
The police shot dead all four in an alleged 'encounter' on Friday at Chatanpally near Shadnagar town, where they had set afire the victim's body.