Telangana encounter evokes mixed reaction from residents

Lovleen Bains

Doraha, December 6

The killing of the four accused in the brutal gang rape and murder of the Hyderabad vet in an encounter on Friday morning, has received mixed reactions from local residents here. A majority of residents have welcomed the encounter by the Telangana police, while there are some who doubted the veracity of the encounter.

Residents appreciated the manner in which justice has arrived, at the same time, added that the law should have been allowed to take its course, but in a speedy manner.

Residents speak out

“Prima facie it appears to be justified and popular in the eyes of people who demands public hanging of culprits. Culprits must be punished by judicial courts with due process of law, and not by the police. If we appreciate the action of the police, the democratic India will be converted into a police state, which is also not fair as far as atrocities against women are concerned.” Dr Kuldeep Singh, Principal, Panjab University, Constituent College, Moga

“Only strict and quick encounters like these can help eliminate such activities from society. Helplines and day and night vigilance services can help reduce such crimes.” Shivani Arora Abrol, Asst Prof, Guru Nanak Dev Engineering College, Ludhiana

“The accused deserved death. It would have been good had the case been decided by a fast track court within a week. The encounter may set a wrong precedent in such cases. The legal system is prudent and public confidence in the same should have been raised.” Dr Hapreet Singh, Director, GNIMT, Ludhiana

“I really appreciated the step taken by the Hyderabad police today. This is a revolutionary step which can help in eliminating such evils from society.” Megha Sharma, Teacher, Government Middle School, Kanech

“We are now not concerned with what happened and why, but the immediate reaction is that the encounter took place for good. But fast track courts should be activated where nothing but death sentence should be pronounced for such culprits.” Jandeep Kaushal, a social worker from Doraha

“This is the best punishment which could have been awarded to the monsters who brutally raped the veterinary doctor and later set her body ablaze. In a country like India where justice arrives too late, nothing could not have been better than this.” Navdeep Kaur, Teacher, Mount Litera Zee School

“It would have been more satisfying for people to see capital punishment being awarded to the rape accused by the court. Nobody can comment on the police encounter till the courts take suo moto notice of the case.” Dr Inderpal Sidhu, Senator and Syndic, Panjab University, Chandigarh

“Justice delayed is justice denied. People waited for a summary trial and the ‘summariest’ trial has been done. Legal luminaries will raise questions and counter-questions. However, the best that society wanted has been done. The encounter of the four rape accused has given the nation hope and criminals the psychosis of fear.” Prof Tarun Ghai, Assistant Professor, SPN College, Mukerian, Hoshiarpur

“The culprits should have been punished, but not like this. The manner of punishment should have been such that the law itself should have set a befitting example for others.” Inderjit Kaur, Teacher, Mount Litera Zee School

“Even though the accused in the Hyderabad vet’s rape case are no more, the larger issue of women’s safety still stands unresolved. Our government needs to take preventive measures rather than waiting for incidents to happen and then taking action.” Navjiwan Hira, Assistant Professor, GNN College, Doraha

Senior citizens express concern

Ludhiana: The Rajguru Nagar Senior Citizens Welfare Association has strongly condemned the brutal gang rape and murder of a veterinary doctor at Hyderabad in Telangana. They called upon the Central Government to make laws which punish the culprits of such heinous crimes without any delay. The meeting which was held with Col Harbaksh Singh (retd), president in the chair, described the slogan of ‘Beti Padhao-Beti Bachao’ as hollow and felt that such slogans had become farce. KS Chawla, senior journalist and vice-president of the association, supported the assertion of Jaya Bachchan in the Rajya Sabha where she demanded public lynching of such criminals to provide justice to the victims’ families. “There was no harm in adopting Shariat laws when the existing laws do not help in punishing the culprits. The culprits of Nirbhaya rape and murder case have not been punished so far even after seven years of the incident,” he said. “The meeting felt concerned over the political patronage to the culprits of heinous crimes like rape and murder and pointed out how a rape survivor was burnt in UP on Tuesday, when she was going to appear in the court,” he said.