Murdered Chennai techie's father calls on public to find courage, intervene during acts of crime

The father of 24-year-old software engineer S. Swathi, who was murdered at the Chennai's Nungambakkam railway station on Friday, expressed sadness at the fact that people remained mute spectators when the gruesome incident took place and some even fled the spot, leaving the body in a pool of blood for hours.

Infosys employee's father Santhana Gopala Krishnan said the police cannot be there to protect citizens at all times, so people must show courage to come to each others' help in times of need.

"It's a great loss to my family. On that night people did not counter what happened and did not nab the culprit. Later her body was lying in pool of blood for hours. The GRP was investigating the case and yesterday it was shifted to Nugambakkam police station," he told media here.

S Swathi was hacked by an alleged stalker while she was waiting for her train to work.

Reports say that those who witnessed the attack failed to react, while many walked away from the gruesome scene and took the next train.

"Every time police cannot be there for the citizens. We should show courage and come forward.Only agony I can share is, people present at the station as mute spectators," he added.

He strongly called for a change in attitude of the society and said, "If anything happens to anybody's mothers, sisters, will be mere spectators? Attitude needs to change."

The Madras High Court yesterday ordered the Chennai police to find the killer within two days.

Shortly after being pulled up by the Madras High Court, the State Government transferred the investigation to the city police from the Government Railway Police.

A special team led by Nungambakkam Assistant Commissioner of Police has been constituted to probe the case.