Mumbai march protests police inaction in techie murder

Eminent social activist Tushar Gandhi led a peace march of representatives of churches and civil society here Tuesday evening, demanding justice for the missing techie Esther Anuhya Singavarapu, found murdered.

The peace march near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in south Mumabi, was to highlight alleged police failure in making any headway in the software engineer's killing nearly a fortnight after her half-burnt and highly decomposed body was found.

Esther, 23, working with the Tata Consultancy Services' Goregaon facility, was reported missing Jan 5 after she alighted at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus till her remains were found Jan 16.

She was returning home after her Christmas vacations in Machilipatnam, Tamil Nadu, and had last called up her father from Solapur. She promised to call up again on reaching Mumbai.

Despite a probe into suspected sexual assault and questioning over a 1,000 people and detaining a dozen suspects, the Mumbai police have failed to secure leads.

The protestors questioned why the Esther case was not solved when Nirbhaya's culprits were nabbed within 72 hours and the Shakti Mills gangrape accused were arrested in 24 hours.

"It is the duty of police to make a thorough search of Bhandup area where her cellphones were last tracked. We want justice for Esther and the police must ensure such incidents don't recur in the future," said Abraham Mathai, co-ordinator of non-governmental organisation Harmony Foundation that organised the march.

Great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Tushar said it was necessary to secure important places and make these safe for women and visitors unfamiliar with the city. Later, the marchers submitted a memorandum to the police with suggestions to enhance safety of women and general public.