Indian police kill gang-rapists who ‘tried to escape’

Police said the four lorry drivers had been taken to a field on the outskirts of Hyderabad to reenact the crime (DM)  

Four men accused of being gang rapists have been shot dead by police in India after they allegedly tried to escape while re-enacting the crime.   

Police say lorry drivers Mohammad Areef, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu tried to seize their weapons and escape while carrying out the re-enactment in a field near Hyderabad on Friday.  

As news of the deaths spread, crowds gathered and broke into wild celebrations - setting off firecrackers and showering police with flower petals.  

But prominent lawyers protested, saying officers had circumvented justice.   

Police found the badly burned remains of the woman under a culvert on the outskirts of the southern city of Hyderabad on Thursday last week.   

Officers said the four were sitting in a lorry and drinking when they noticed the victim pull up nearby on a scooter and go into a clinic.   

They say while the woman was inside, the men slashed the back tyre of the scooter.  

When she discovered the damage, the men allegedly posed as passersby offering to help.   

The group then allegedly dragged the woman into an abandoned compound where they believe the rape took place.  

At some point during the attack she fell unconscious and when she revived began screaming. Naveen placed his hand over her nose and mouth and suffocated her, police said.  

The men then hid her body in their truck while they bought petrol, drove to a nearby culvert, doused the remains and set it on fire.
Hyderabad, (Daily Mail), 6 December 2019