Abhaya case: Accused remanded

Sent to 14-day judicial custody

Advocates have decided that they would not defend the accused and would also discourage other lawyers from doing so

The accused in the ‘Abhaya’ gang-rape case, V Satish and Venkateswarulu, were on Wednesday remanded to 14-day judicial custody by the Kukatpally Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

Interestingly, the Ranga Reddy District Bar Association has decided against defending the two accused. The executive body requested all advocates practicing in Ranga Reddy district courts not to defend them, Bar Association president K Raj Reddy told media persons.

The advocates decided that they would not defend the accused and would also discourage other lawyers from doing so. Demanding stern action against the accused for the heinous act, they said that both of them deserved no mercy. They also demanded speedy trial of Abhaya case to ensure that the accused were awarded capital punishment.

It may be recalled that the driver Satish, along with his friend Venkateshwarlu, abducted the techie, who was waiting for a public transport, from Inorbit Mall in a Volvo car under the pretext of dropping her at her hostel in Gowli Doddi at 8.20 pm on October.

Satish diverted the car towards ORR service road, instead of taking Wipro junction from where the girl’s hostel can be easily reached. He proceeded on the ORR up to Kollur exit point, after reaching the Andhra Pradesh Police Academy junction. Sensing trouble, the girl called her friend in Bangalore who alerted his friends in Balanagar and later they all searched for her at Wipro junction near Mind Space as well as other prominent places of Madhapur and Gachibowli.

Meanwhile, Satish had grabbed her mobile phone and switched it off. She was sexually assaulted by both the accused at an isolated place in a mango grove near a school at Kollur on Tellapur road. They dropped the techie at her hostel at 2.30 am in the wee hours on October 19 and warned her of dire consequences if she reported the incident either to her family members or the police. Following a complaint from her friends, the Cyberabad police swung into action, but could not establish the identity of the abductors as the footage of a CC TV near the school was not clear enough to identify the car used by the accused.

The investigating officials took the assistance of the National Investigating Agency and zeroed in on the car. Meanwhile, the police verified the detail of owners of Volvo cars in the city. Finally, the accused were traced and arrested from their residences at Yellammabanda in Kukatpally.