Pallakonda Raju who was accused of the rape and murder of 6-year old in Saidabad was found dead on the railway tracks near Station Ghanpur in the Jangoan district of Telangana on Thursday. He was absconding since the night neighbours found the victim’s body wrapped in a bedsheet in his house and was last seen in CCTV footage in LB Nagar a day after the crime.
“Declared after the verification of identification marks on deceased body,” tweeted DGP of Telangana police.
A shameful and horrific rape and murder of a 6-year old girl shook everyone and led to massive outrage. Every voice sought speedy justice for the deceased.
Telangana police launched a massive manhunt and have been looking for Raju for the last five days. A cash reward of Rs 1 lakh was also announced for any information leading regarding the accused. Posters declaring Raju a ‘WANTED’ man were pasted on auto-rickshaws, buses, at toddy compounds, wine shops, and all public places across the State.
The police was informed by a couple of workers on duty nearby the tracks which took place at around 8.40 am. His body was identified on the basis of tattoos on his hands.
On September 9, a 6-year old girl had gone missing from her house in Saidabad. Hours later, her body was found wrapped in a bedsheet at Raju’s house. Osmania General Hospital revealed in the autopsy report that the minor was sexually assaulted before she was strangled to death.
Call For Encounter
Telangana Labour Minister Malla Reddy called for an encounter which was later supported by Congress chief Revanth Reddy also.
“The accused in the case will be killed in an encounter,” said Malla Reddy.
“We will definitely arrest him and will do the encounter,” stated Revanth Reddy.
Contempt of the Due Process of Law
Meanwhile, several women and activists from the Women and Transgender Organisation Joint Action Committee (WT-JAC) and human rights organisations in Telangana submitted a memorandum before the acting chief justice of Telangana High Court. Calling them “disturbing and irresponsible public statements”, they sought an immediate intervention and asked to punish the two elected representatives for “contempt of the due process of law”.
“We feel that the statement of the said Minister and that of a duly elected member of Parliament is unconstitutional and amounts to degradation of faith in the rule of law. Instead of demanding that the police should investigate the crime on a war footing and bring the culprit to the court, the Minister and the MP have demanded for an unconstitutional remedy of execution by way of encounter. Being part of the government, such statements are not just utterly irresponsible but also encourage impunity among the police and lawlessness among the people,” said their letter.
