Hyderabad rape suspects were shot dead by police: swift justice or criminality?
- Authorities claimed the four men accused of the gang rape and murder of 27-year-old vet were killed in a ‘shoot-out’ with police during re-enactment
- Such incidents are known as ‘staged killings’ or ‘encounters’, and rights activists are concerned they contribute to a culture of impunity
Authorities claimed the four men were killed in a “shoot-out” during a re-enactment of the attack, carried out just under two weeks ago, in which a 27-year-old veterinarian was raped and murdered, before her body was burnt.
Police were feted with rose petals, and crowds took to the streets cheering the men’s deaths, saying “swift justice” had been meted out.
“The law has done its duty,” local police chief V.C. Sajjanar told reporters.
These kind of deaths – dubbed “encounters” – where police claim suspects were killed trying to resist arrest or while escaping from custody, are part of a well-worn script trotted out by authorities. But human rights campaigners warned of a deepening culture of impunity as police take the law into their own hands.