Telangana HC orders judicial probe into death of minor's rape and murder accused

The Telangana High Court on Friday ordered a judicial inquiry into the alleged suicide of P Raju, an accused in a six-year-old girl's rape and murder case.

A bench headed by Acting Chief Justice MS Ramchandra Rao and Justice T Amarnath Goud was hearing a lunch motion petition (case being heard the same day in case of emergency), moved by Telangana Civil Liberties Committee (CLC) president Gaddam Laxman, seeking a judicial inquiry into the death.

The bench ordered the probe by a local court in Warangal and directed it to submit its report in a sealed cover in four weeks.

The court also directed the state government to hand over the videos of the post-mortem conducted on the body of the deceased, to the Principal district judge Warangal.

The petitioner also sought Rs 50 lakh compensation to the kin of the deceased.

Raju's body was found at a railway track in Jangaon district on Thursday morning.

The incident happened two days after Telangana Labour Minister Ch Malla Reddy said on September 14 that the accused in the case would be caught and that there should be an "encounter" against him.

Family members of the accused claimed he might have been killed, even as police said it was a suicide.

The girl was allegedly raped and murdered in a neighbouring house at Saidabad here on the evening of September 9. The incident triggered outrage among the public and political parties.

Meanwhile, Telangana Director General of Police M Mahendar Reddy at a press conference dismissed the allegation that the suicide was stage managed.

"There are seven witnesses whose statements have been recorded. We do not need any more evidence. There is no necessity to lie. It is not correct to create a false impression in the people's minds about the incident," Reddy told reporters.