AP CM lauds Telangana government, police over encounter in rape and murder case

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Monday lauded the Telangana government and police for the encounter of four accused in connection with the gang rape and murder of a woman on the outskirts of Hyderabad.

"Telangana government implemented the punishment which consoled the family of the victim. Hats-off to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and Telangana police. The encounter took place in an odd situation," Reddy said during a debate in the state assembly on the issue of women safety.

He said that if heroes carry out encounters in films, people clap and make the film hit but when the same takes place in real life they are asking the police why they did such a wrong thing.

"How should we respond if such an incident takes place in our state? Everybody thinks that it won't be wrong even if those criminals are shot dead. I am a father of two girls and a brother. How should a father respond when such an incident takes place?" Reddy said.

"Whenever something happens, what the families of the victim want is immediate relief. Everybody expects instant justice. Nobody wants to take the law into their own hands and shoot out the criminals. What pains them is the delay in getting justice, how many years they have to roam around the courts?" he added.

The Chief Minister said that laws will be brought so that the inquiry is completed within the first week of the incident, the trial is completed in the second week and offenders are punished by the third week.

"There should be no delay in courts. Stringent laws should be made. The accused are not getting punished even when they are caught red-handed. Special courts should be constituted in every district. We will bring stringent laws to punish those who make vulgar posts on women in social media," he said.

Reddy also said that consumption of alcohol desensitizes and demonizes people.

"Whenever five-six people drink together, they become beasts. That is why we have cancelled permit rooms (where liquor can be consumed) and belt shops (small shops where small amounts of liquor are sold in retail). While there is a ban on porn websites, they are not totally being controlled," he said.

Reddy alleged that the crime rate in the state increased in past five years under TDP rule.

Jagan during his speech made an indirect reference to Jana Sena Party leader and popular film star Pawan Kalyan. "Nowadays some leaders say that it is not sufficient to have one wife, two wives, or three wives. People are discussing that such persons may need four wives, but it is called bigamy," he said.

The Andhra Pradesh government is expected to introduce and pass a bill on crime against women on coming Wednesday.