Yet another rape and murder, yet another candlelight protest, protest against the law, government and whatnot–but question yourself for how long? A day or a week? For the 1.37 billion Indian population, rape is now like just petty robbery case. I’m not saying we don’t voice out, but is it enough?
On Wednesday Priyanka Reddy a 26-year-old woman might not have even though that this could be her last journey. She was on her way from her house in Telangana’s Shadnagar to a veterinary hospital where she worked, was stranded in Shamshabad after her two-wheeler reportedly got punctured. Her body was found severely burnt in Shadnagar, about 30 kilometres away, below an underbridge badly burned on Thursday morning. She is suspected of having been sexually assaulted before being murdered.
Her last call was to her sister around 9:15 pm, wherein the phone call audio suggested that someone had offered to get the flat tyre repaired.
Her sister Bhavya later stated that she had suggested her to wait at the nearest toll gate as the Priyanka had said that she was feeling scared with a lot of strangers and trucks parked in the area. Bhavya had even suggested Priyanka to return home leaving the scooter back.
Bhavya said that Priyanka’s phone was switched off around 9.44 pm and after waiting for a while, they hurried to the toll-plaza to search for her. As Priyanka was nowhere to be found near, they then lodged a police complaint.
The woman’s body was found severely burnt and was recognised by her family members with the help of a locket that she was wearing. Her body was handed over to her family after post-mortem.
Following this incident, the netizens took the twitter to express their rage and hashtags like #RIPPriyankaReddy, and #JusticeForPriyankaReddy were seen trending with hundreds of tweets calling for capital punishment for the accused. A few of them even recollected the Nirbhaya case and questioned the status of the case after several years.
Meanwhile, Hyderabad police also tweeted regarding safety measures for women/ senior citizens and requested them to reach out to police for assistance during odd hours. They also mentioned about the ‘Hawkeye’ app that helps users to share their location status with police and other confidantes.
#Rachakondapolice appeal to the citizens especially #Women & #SeniorCitizens to seek #assistance of the #police in case of vehicle breakdown or tire puncture during odd hours. Please reach us on Rachakonda police WhatsApp no 9490617111 or Dial 100.@TelanganaDGP @cyberabadpolice pic.twitter.com/vJ0zCoCIAH
— Rachakonda Police (@RachakondaCop) November 28, 2019
The cyber police on Friday arrested four accused in the murder of Dr Priyanka Reddy and source claim that police have almost solved the case based on the CCTV footage.
The prime suspect a lorry driver named Mohammed Pasha belongs to Narayanpet in Mahabubnagar, a cleaner and other two persons belong to Rangareddy and Mahabubnagar. Police are interrogating and seeking more details from them.
Along with various glories and heritage which we brag about, India is also one among the top countries with a high number of rape cases. Now, people might say why to travel in scooty at night? Why this why that? But tell me, why not? Just because we are born a girl? As if we were given a choice? What has to be now looked into is whether this case will be dusted like all other rape cases? Or will the government seriously give it a thought as to how to deal with it?
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