Another Woman Burnt In Telangana, Close To Where Veterinarian Was Killed

Police said the body was being moved to a government hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Hyderabad:

A day after the body of a 26-year-old veterinarian was found in a charred state at Shamshabad near Hyderabad on Thursday, police today found another woman dead under similar circumstances in the same locality.

“The body was found in an open area on the outskirts of Shamshabad. It is being moved to a government hospital for autopsy, and a case is being registered,” news agency ANI quoted Cyberabad Commissioner of Police VC Sajjanagar as saying.

Although police said the second woman was found dead just a few kilometres away from where the veterinarian’s body was recovered, they could not confirm if the two incidents were linked.

The first incident had sent shockwaves across the nation, drawing assurances from the Hyderabad government that everything was being done to catch the culprits. Police suspect that the victim was raped before being murdered.

The veterinarian had gone missing on Wednesday night, while she was heading home from work. Investigations revealed that on her way back, she stopped at the Shamshabad toll booth, parked her bike there and took a cab to visit a dermatologist. Upon returning around 9 pm, she found her two-wheeler punctured.

The veterinarian had last called her sister around 9:15 pm on Wednesday. An audio recording of the call seemed to suggest that somebody had offered to get her flat tyre fixed, and that she was feeling scared because some truck drivers near her were behaving in a suspicious manner.

They did not hear from her again.

Telangana Director General of Police Mahendar Reddy called the murder “gruesome and atrocious”, and promised to ensure that the culprits — once caught — are convicted expeditiously in a fast-track court. “Deeply pained and anguished. Telangana police will do everything possible to catch the offenders at the earliest and get them convicted through a fast-track court. Anyone, anytime, anywhere in distress, please dial 100,” he said in a tweet.

Four people, all truck drivers, have been arrested in connection with the veterinarian’s murder. According to ANI, they have now been sent to judicial custody.