For the four rape accused life ended where it all started

Far from the bustle of the city, this non-descript village with paddy and tomato fields has come alive after the four men accused of gang rape and murder of a woman veterinarian were killed in an 'encounter' on Friday.

The bodies of the four with one seen holding a pistol in a hand lay in the spot barely a few hundred metres away from where they had allegedly burnt the 25-year old woman just a week ago after raping and killing her.

Surrounded by paddy and tomato fields some distance away on one side and the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway on the other, the stretch of uncultivated land where the bodies lay for legal formalities was swarmed by a battery of mediapersons and curious onlookers.

"Crime scene do not cross" warnings greeted the mediapersons at the village, 50 kms from Hyderabad, as they were allowed to witness the encounter spot from a distance.

Curious onlookers gathered at the highway, with a section of them raising slogans hailing the police for their action against the accused, with some citizens strewing flower petals on the spot where the woman's charred body was found on November 28 as a mark of paying tributes to here.

Since morning a steady stream of people reached the 'encounter' site located on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway and congratulated the police and raised slogans such as 'Telangana police zindabad' and "We got justice".

Many felt such a police action will act as a deterrent for others fromcommitting similar crimes.

Charred body of the woman, working as an assistant veterinarian at a state-run hospital was found under a culvert in Shadnagar near here on November 28 morning, a day after she went missing.

The four accused, all lorry workers in their early 20s , were arrested on November 29 for allegedly raping the woman, killing her by smothering her and finally burning her body.

The gruesome assault had drawn national outrage, with members of civil society, woman rights activists and even Parliamentarians calling for the harshest possible punishment for the accused persons.