Should be Lynched: Jaya Bachchan, a Lawmaker, Seeks Mob Justice Against Telangana Vet Rape-Murder Accused

New Delhi: Calling for the due process for those accused of raping and murdering a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad to be set aside, Rajya Sabha member Jaya Bachchan on Monday made the shocking recommendation that “such people be brought out in the public and lynched.”

In a discussion on the increasing crimes against women that was held after nationwide protests in the aftermath of the veterinarian’s gang-rape and murder, Bachchan said people now want the government to give a proper and a definite answer – which according to her is lynching of the accused.

The gang rape of the 26-year-old doctor whose body was set on fire and dumped near a toll booth in the Telangana capital has sent shockwaves through India, with hundreds of women taking to the streets to voice their outrage.

A large group of people and activists had on Saturday staged a protest outside the police station near Hyderabad where the accused the case were lodged, demanding 'severe' punishment for them. Police had to lath-charge the protesters as they tried to forcibly enter the station.

Stones were hurled at a police vehicle as the accused were being taken to the jail in Hyderabad, and police used mild force to control the crowd.

CCTV footage, police reports and witness accounts suggest the attack by the four youth – all lorry drivers - had been premeditated. The woman’s scooter tyres had allegedly been deflated by the four men, who then sat waiting in a lorry nearby and approached her to offer help.

She was allegedly dragged to an uninhabited scrubland near the toll road that was hidden from view by bushes, where she was smothered to muffle her screams and raped by the men. It is believed they then suffocated her. Her body was then put into a truck and taken to a motorway underpass, where the men set it alight and dumped it.

The heinous nature of the crime has brought back memories of the 2012 Nirbhaya case.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also spoke on the issue, and that the many laws that have been made to tackle rapes have proven to be not enough. “The whole nation has to get together to finish this from roots. We have to create an atmosphere where such incidents do not happen. Stricter punishments should be given,” he said.