The Crime Case Chapter 2

Trigger Warning: Due to the excessive violence and gore sequences in the story, children under 12 to 14 years of group needs a strict parental guidance, when they read the story.

SHAMSHABAD:

APOLLO HOSPITALS:

27 NOVEMBER 2019:

6:15 PM:

"Sister. I am coming back to the house from my hospital duties." A girl said on her phone and was starting her scooter. She drove towards Hyderabad-Shamsabad roads, reaching Tondupally toll plaza.

At that time, two rich guys and his close friends, in SUV Cars were drinking whiskey. Seeing her one of his friends told, "Buddy. She is so hot and sexy da. I can't afford to tolerate my sexual urges da. Shall we have with her?"

"Hey. It might bring us to risk da. You know what has happened due to the 2012 Delhi Gang Rape right?"

"Hey. Our judicial system won't give harsh punishments, unlike USA, UK, and Japan da. So, we can bravely do whatever we wish. And even a problem comes, our family is there to bail out, you know!" said one of those rich guys.

"Ok. Let's enjoy her." The guys followed her towards a post office. The girl took a taxi to a dermatologist's office in Hyderabad.

As she have went in a taxi, one of the guys told: "Cha. We missed her da."

"Who told da? She have parked the vehicle here right. Then means what? She would come again."

One of the rich guys tells, "What if we can deflate her scooter's tire."

The guys deflate her Tyre and waited for her arrival, irrespective of the timings.

9:15 PM:

Around 9:15 PM, the girl returned in the taxi and seeing her, one of the rich guys told: "Haa...she look so cute and beautiful..."

The girl noticed the flat tyre and made a call to her sister. 

"Tell me ma."

"Sister. My Tyre got punctured."

"Don't worry ma. Come by taxi or bus."

She agrees and searches for some help. The rich guys affords to help her and ambushed her. Taking to a secluded place into bushes near the toll gate, one of the guys switched off her phone.

The girl screamed, "Help...help please...help please."

"My dear girl. Whatever you scream or shout nothing is going to be heard off."

"Buddy. Pour whiskey into her mouth da. Problem solved."

One of the guys poured whiskey into her mouth in an attempt to silence her. 

"Buddy. I will first go and...ah, ah..." One of the guys showed his urge to have sex with her.

"Chi. For that only, we have took her here right." One of the men in the gang tore away her clothes, bikini and skirts to make her nude. Now, they gang raped the girl brutally until she lost her consciousness. The poor girl started bleeding.

When she regained consciousness, the guys felt threatened. So they smothered her, wrapped the corpse in a blanket, transported it in their truck 27 km to a location near the Shadnagar interchange on the Hyderabad Outer ring road and at approximately 2:30 AM, burnt it under a bridge using diesel and petrol purchased for the purpose.

FIVE HOURS LATER:

The girl's family panics since she have not yet came to the house and goes to the nearby police station for lodging a complaint. The police inspector gets a complaint letter from them and sends his constable to conduct a search for the girl. They were improper in their response to the case and allegedly wasted time over the applicability of the jurisdiction of the police station and inappropriate questioning of the family.

28 NOVEMBER 2019:

CHATANPALLY BRIDGE:

On 28 November 2019, one of the passerby identifies the dead body of the girl in Shadnagar and immediately reports this to the police Inspector. Along with his team, he goes to the crime scene and is horrified to see the dead body of the girl.

He brings the girl's family to the crime scene. Seeing her, the girl's mother falls down and cries aloud telling: "My dear. You are being killed like this. For this only, did I bear you in my womb for ten months?"

"I had so many dreams in my mind to make you settled. You have left us like this eh, Priyanka." Her sister cried out aloud.

The police officers consoled them and tells, "Let's see the further proceedings madam."

Angered, the victim's father angrily asked him, "What further proceedings sir? The dead girl is my beloved daughter. My stomach is burning sir. I don't know you have a daughter or not. But, we want justice for our daughter's death sir."

The officer insists them to approach ACP Ashwin Reddy, who is a drunkard police officer working in Cyberabad Metropolitan Police. Ashwin Reddy comes to know about the rape case and agrees to investigate this case.

Ashwin have a dark past surrounding him. As he have previously encountered a dreaded gangster in Hyderabad, his wife and daughter were brutally murdered by the gangster's younger brother in order to seek revenge for his death and due to the depression, he slipped to alcoholism.

Along with his officers accompanying him, Ashwin goes to the crime scene and reaches the CCTV office in Shadnagar.

"Sir. I want the CCTV footage of 25 November 2019, during the death of Priyanka." The man showcased the CCTV footages to them. In the CCTV, when he noticed the SUV Car, going speed he asked the operator to stop it and asked, "Who are they?"

"Sir. They are from influential family backgrounds. Frequently visits this place" said the operator.

Afterwards, Ashwin meets an eyewitness who showcased the crime scene in bushes. From there, he picks up the broken glasses of whiskey bottle and few blood stains. Including the victim's mobile phone, which was left as such. Ashwin realized that they were drunk.

"So, our police got this girl's charred corpse under Chatanpally Bridge in Shadnagar located 30 km (19 mi) from the toll booth where she was abducted. Her scooter was found at a distance of 10 km (6.2 mi) from the place where her body was found. The police found her clothes, handbag, footwear and a liquor bottle near the toll booth. 70% of the body was covered with burns. A locket of Ganesha found on the charred corpse helped her family to identify the victim. The body was handed over to the family after a post mortem." Ashwin determined his final conclusion of the case and started to instigate about the details of those rich guys.

He comes to know about their names: Akhil Reddy, Sai Adhithya Reddy, Roopesh Naidu, Adarsh Balakrishna and Allu Suresh Ramakrishna respectively. Ashwin arrested them after tracking them down with the help of his colleagues and produced him to the court.

The executive magistrate sent the four accused into custody for 14 days to Chelrapally Central Jail. And at this point of time, an angry Ashwin Reddy meets the Sub-Inspector Rajesh Khanna, Inspector Ram Reddy and the constables belonging to the Shamshabad airport police station.

Looking at them, he tells: "Due to your negligence in responding to the case, a girl have now died. Do you know the reward for this? Suspension! Suspension for one month!" He gives them the suspension order.

He tells them, "Wait for a minute. You all have brought huge disappointment for the police. But, I would clear it off by showcasing that, we are not inefficient or negligent in punishing the criminals and protecting the people."

Ashwin proceeds and sees the protests of the family to whom he tells: "Madam. I know the impact of a girl's death. As I too was the father of a girl child. And I doesn't wish to reveal the name of this girl. We planned to name her as Disha instead of her true name. Use the hashtag #JusticeForDisha for social media posts instead of using the real name. Indian laws prohibit naming rape victims, and violations are subject to legal penalties ."

The rape caused outrage in several parts of the country. Protests against rape were organised across the country including the major cities, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ahmedabad. Hyderabad was the centre of the protests. Politicians including Rahul Gandhi, expressed shock over the incident that happened near Rajiv Gandhi International Airport. Protesters across India demanded stricter laws against rapists. After the arrest of the four suspects, a crowd of local residents gathered at the Shadnagar police station to protest against the crime and demanding that the police either hang or shoot the culprits.

Due to the crowd of protestors around the police station, the accused could not be brought to court. Instead the executive magistrate arrived to the police station and passed the order to send the accused on judicial custody for 14 days.

While the police were transporting the accused from the Shadnagar police station to the prison in Hyderabad, several protestors threw stones over police vehicles. Police used force and wielded batons to control the crowd, who were demanding the police hand over the accused to them. The public sentiment was against the police. The protestors questioned the priorities of the police and demanded that police act in a sensitive, responsive and proactive manner.

Ashwin is helped by his close friend Advocate Sri Adhithya Naidu. And the rich guys are supported by Public Prosecutor K. Nandagopal.

03 DECEMBER 2019:

On 3 December 2019, a man from Nizamabad district was arrested by the Cyberabad police inspector Rakesh Reddy and was brought to Aswhin, who have quit drinking.

"Yes. What's the case Rakesh?"

"Sir. This guy posted pictures of the raped victim Disha and spreaded derogatory posts about the girl. That's why I arrested him."

Ashwin holds the hair of the man and tells, "You bloody suck. Why don't you go and spread these about your family da? If this happened to your own sister means, will you spread these kind of things?"

He files a case against him and locks him in the prison.

"Sir. On one side protests are going to kill the rapists or to hang them off. On the other side, our judiciary system. What to do now sir?" The constables and Rakesh asked Ashwin.

"Rape is the fourth most common crime against women in India. India has been characterised as one of the "countries with the lowest per capita rates of rape". Many rapes go unreported in various countries including India. The willingness to report rape has increased in recent years, after several incidents of rape received widespread media attention and triggered public protest. Most notably, the 2012 Delhi gang rape led the Government of India to reform its penal code for crimes of rape and sexual assault. You know? In Saudi Arabia, rapists were beheaded immediately, when they raped a 15-year old girl. In other countries, the rapists are thrown stones and killed. Additionally, several like: cutting their chick and paralyzing them forever. But, in our country, these are not there." Ashwin told this to them.

"If they don't get punished means, what can we do sir? Should we follow the law system of our country or to take the law into our own hands sir?"

Ashwin remains silent for this. Since, his friend Lawyer Sri Adhithya Naidu calls him for some important purpose.

06 DECEMBER 2019:

3:00 AM:

Sri Adhithya Naidu wears his spectacles and stated: "My lord. I am appearing for the petition case of Disha(name not to be revealed as per rules). The victim was drugged, dragged and been mercilessly raped by these rich fellows. Rape, being he fourth most common crime against woman is going worst that, these guys are taking our Indian Laws for granted. Because, we don't give harsh punishments like beheading, hanging, etc. unlike in USA, UK, Saudi Arabia and Pakistan."

"I object this my lord. This lawyer have saw some movies and is trying to create a scene in front of the court. I accept that they have done mistakes. But, giving them these kind of harsh punishments is not fair."

"Yes sir. Giving them these kinds of punishments is not fair and if we give light punishments like 6-year imprisonment and life-long imprisonment means, they can freely roam around and rape women, as per their wishes. Yesterday, Nirbhaya, today, Disha and tomorrow I don't know who gonna to be the next victim. If a woman goes freely outside the roads, they would be seen in wrong way by men like these people. Standing is mistake, crying is wrong, etc, etc, etc. When a woman says no, it means no my lord. The word itself says that, 'we don't have rights to touch them.' Whether it's a boyfriend, husband or anyone, no means no. Nandagopal sir. For expressing grief over social issues, we doesn't need to watch movies. Just listening to the news is enough."

The judge gives the accused life long imprisonment saying, "As per IPC Section 376, Section 300 and Section 204 for murdering, raping a woman and destroying the evidence, the accused are given life long imprisonment with a fine of Rs.10,000 to the victim's family",  which makes Sri Adhithya unhappy and the opposition lawyer sits dejected. However, he shakens Adhithya Naidu and Ashwin, showing the signs of appreciation to them.

When coming outside the court, a woman constable salutes the Lawyer and Ashwin.

3:30 AM:

Since the accused guys were given life long imprisonment by the court, they were taken in a van to the prison. When going towards Hyderabad-Bangalore National Highway, Ashwin turned to the driver and said, "Driver. Take diversion to Chatanpally Bridge."

The driver takes diversion and while going, Ashwin recalls the discussion with Kamalesh.

03 DECEMBER 2019:

2:00 AM:

"If we are unable to get justice for Priya and the court gives them a light punishment means, then we have to get a justice for this girl."

"Sir. What do you mean?" asked the Constable.

"Doesn't you understand what he says man? He tells, we can encounter them brutally." Rakesh said.

FEW HOURS BEFORE:

COURT ROOM:

"What da naidu? They have given life-long imprisonment. It means they would lead a luxurious life in prison and we have to look after them. Am I right?" Ashwin angrily told him.

"Sorry da buddy. Here there is so many partiality. Rich and Poor, etc. Law is differentiated for these two. And we can't get justice, even if it becomes 1000 years. Because, our law system is as such. They just hangs the rapists in four walls or giving punishments like this. That's why ministers from Congress Leaders even asked Nirbaya's parents to forgive the rapists. You know it took 8 long years to get them punished. Henceforth, my suggestion is you kill them and frame what you used to do. As a lawyer, I didn't say this. But, thinking me as the girl's brother, I advise you to do so."

PRESENT:

As the van reached the Chatanpally bridge, Ashwin asked the constables and Rakesh to get down along with the convicts.

He tells to the constable, "Remove their handcuffs."

The constables removed their handcuffs. Akhil Reddy and Adhithya asked, "What sir? Releasing us so that we can escape and settle in foreign ah?"

"No da. We released you so that, you can do the reconstruction of Crime scene. Why would we release your handcuffs? To encounter only!" Ashwin said.

"Animals like you aren't deserved to live a human life da. Even they hunt for satisfying their hunger. But you all are. Cha! This encounter is gonna to be a huge lesson for rapists, who dares to touch any woman da." Some police officers said to them.

As the guys tells, "Hey. No. Don't do anything." Recalling how the girl was brutally raped and killed, Ashwin points his gun towards the culprits, who are running to the deserted pathway. Along with Rakesh, he brutally shoots them off to death.

FEW HOURS LATER:

The media people came to know about the encounter and questioned Ashwin: "Sir. Why did you encountered the culprits?"

"Two of them snatched the guns and attacked us. They tried to run towards a deserted pathway when we opened fire as an act of self-defence. The suspects were not wearing handcuffs too. All accused got together and started attacking the police party. Officers maintained restraint and asked them to surrender but without listening to us they kept firing. Our officers retaliated." Ashwin said to the media people.

Ashwin then recalls, the crime scene after the death of those accused culprits. He deliberately injured himself along with few other police officers and had staged a scene like this. 

Hearing to this, one of the family members of the girl asked him personally, "Sir. Tell me the truth. Did they really escaped from you?"

Being silent for a while, he replied to them saying, "I have got justice for the death of your girl's death sir. I doesn't want to delay justice, unlike in Pollachi Rape Incidents, Nirbhaya Gang Rape, etc. Like them, still many more are suffering a lot."

They praised him and celebrated the encounter outside. Thousands of people celebrated at the scene of the men's deaths the following day, some setting off firecrackers, distributing candies, showering police with flower petals, hoisting police to their shoulders, and shouting "hail the police!" 

Ashwin have been compared to the protagonist of the 2010 Action film Singam citing him, "trigger-happy, vigilante cops brazenly carrying out extrajudicial executions."

FEW DAYS LATER:

As Ashwin is continuing his duty, he sees the reflection of his wife smiling at him and he proceeds to solve the case of the half-burnt corpse of another woman, who have found nearby Hyderabad.

EPILOGUE:

"Women have a lot to contribute to the society. However, they are looked down by the men. They are either been raped or thrown acid, etc. Each and every men should be teached from their very young age about what to do and what not to do. Just encounter or hanging is not enough for rapists. They should be hanged in front of people so that, this would instill fear in the minds of people, who dares to do so. Please don't fear if anyone tries to rape you. Either hit them or do something as an act of self-defence."

-Adhithya Sakthivel.

"I can explain myself: If you want to be safe, walk in the middle of the street. I'm not joking. You've been told to look both ways before crossing the street, and the sidewalk is your friend, right? Wrong. I've spent years walking sidewalks at night. I've looked around me when it was dark, when there were men following me, creeping out of alleyways, attempting to goad me into speaking to them and shouting obscenities at me when I wouldn't, and I suddenly realised that the only place left to go was the middle of street. But why would I risk it? Because the odds are in my favour. In the States, someone is killed in a car accident on average every 12.5 minutes, while someone is raped on average every 2.5 minutes. Even when factoring in that, one, I am generously including ALL car-related accidents and not just those involving accidents, and two, that the vast majorities of rapes still go unreported […] And, thus, this is now the way I live my life: out in the open, in the middle of everything, because the middle of the street is actually the safest place to walk. "

-Emilie Autumn

On 2 December 2019, the incident was discussed in both houses of the Indian parliament, the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha. The members of the two houses expressed outrage on the incident and demanded concrete action. In the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister Rajnath Singh stated that the government was "open to every suggestion to curb such heinous crimes" and ready to explore strongest legal provisions.

Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said, "There is zero tolerance towards crimes against women and children. Our government will soon bring requisite amendments to CrPC and IPC." He further added that the government will possibly try to bring the changes in the ongoing winter session of Parliament.

In Rajya Sabha, an adjournment motions over the incident was rejected by Chairman Venkaiah Naidu, but he allowed the members to discuss such incidents in the country. Member of Parliament Jaya Bachchan said during a heated debate that the rapists should be lynched.

 

P. Wilson suggested courts be empowered "to surgically and chemically castrate convicted rapists before they are released from jails" to prevent repeat offenders. He stated that the list of sexual offenders should be released publicly.[48] Vijila Sathyananth asked for faster delivery of justice and the hanging of the accused before 31 December. A speedy trial and death penalty for the accused was common demand of the members.

Mohd. Ali Khan asked for defined timelines for the trial in fast-track courts. He also asked to avoid giving a religious colour to the accused since they belonged to different religions. The Communist Party of India which generally opposes capital punishment demanded it for the accused and its member Binoy Viswam stated "I do not believe in death penalty but these accused should be hanged for such a heinous crime".

In an interview to NDTV while visiting the family of the victim, Union Minister of State for Home, Kishan Reddy criticised the casual attitude of Telangana Police and their lack of a sense of urgency, saying it might have saved the victim. He stated "No one can be turned away from the police station like that. We will make it compulsory for every police station to accept a complaint. The FIR can be filed later; first they should have helped to search [for] the girl". He added "We take a very serious view of the developments. We intend to amend the IPC (Indian Penal Code) and CrPC (Code of Criminal Procedure) to make the law such that punishment is quick through fast-track courts. We will discuss this in great detail in a meeting of DGPs (senior police officers) between December 6 and 8. We want to publicise 112 as an emergency response system. Every woman must download the app to use in emergency. At the same time, the police and law enforcement authorities, her family, even some volunteers will be alerted, so response can be quick. We have recently introduced it in Delhi and want to publicise it everywhere."

The Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D) has made additional suggestions for changes to IPC and CrPC rules.

The Government of Andhra Pradesh passed a bill named Disha Act (also known as, Andhra Pradesh Criminal Law (Amendment) Bill, 2019) to award death penalty for rapists within 21 days after the crime is committed.

In response to the incident, the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly passed Andhra Pradesh Disha-Criminal Law (Andhra Pradesh Amendment) Bill, 2019 and Special Courts for Specified Offences against Women and Children) Bill, 2020. The bills seek to expediate the investigation and trail of heinous cases related to sexual offences against women and children when substantial conclusive evidence is present. As of July 2021, the bills were reserved for the President's assent.