Hyderabad
(Telengana), September 19: The Telangana High Court on Friday ordered a
judicial inquiry into the alleged suicide of P Raju, the prime accused of a brutal
rape and murder of a minor in Saidabad. He was absconding since September 9.
A bench
headed by Acting Chief Justice MS Ramchandra Rao and Justice T Amarnath Goud
was hearing a petition moved by Telangana Civil Liberties Committee (CLC)
president Gaddam Laxman, seeking a judicial inquiry into the death of the
accused.
The bench
ordered a probe by a local court in Warangal and directed it to submit its
report in a sealed cover in four weeks to the bench.
The court
also directed the state government to hand over all material, including the
videos of the post-mortem conducted on the body of the deceased, to the
Principal District Judge Warangal.
The
petitioner has 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. Police
claim he committed suicide by jumping in front of a fast-moving train.
The incident
happened two days after Telangana Labour Minister Ch Malla Reddy on September
14 said that the accused would be caught and that there should be an ‘encounter’
of the accused.
The girl was
allegedly brutally raped and murdered in P Raju’s house which was in the
neighbourhood of the minor in Saidabad locality here on September 9. The
incident had triggered widespread outrage among the public and political leaders.
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.