Hyderabad: Six months after the horrific rape case, in which a 22-year-old woman was abducted and raped by two cabbies, the accused were convicted by the Metropolitan Sessions Court of Cyberabad on Wednesday.
The accused, Vedicherla Satish and his friend Nemmadi Venkateshwarlu were booked under the Criminal Amendment Act for gangrape, abduction and wrongful confinement under the IPC. All charges against them were proved and they were pronounced guilty. Special judge Nagarjuna Reddy sentenced the two to 20 years rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 1,000 each.
The trial in the rape case of a 22-year-old woman, who was abducted and raped by two cabbies, was completed six months after the 45-page chargesheet was filed in January by the Madhapur police. 21 witnesses were examined. For the first time in Andhra Pradesh, a crucial witness, who is now in the USA, was examined through video conference.
The witness was the woman’s friend, who she first called for help after she realised she had been abducted. He was then working in a software firm in Bangalore, and later went to the US on work.
Of the 21 witnesses, 15 are private witnesses, friends of the woman, who went out searching for her when she alerted them about the kidnapping. Police say the case was completed in record time.
“This does not happen in all cases. It was because of the special request from the Cyberabad police commissioner C.V. Anand, who took a special interest in the case. All the charges have been proved,” said Janaki Sharmila, additional deputy commissioner of police, (crime), Cyberabad. The defence counsel said they will move the High Court.
The young woman had hailed a cab at Hitec City on the night of October 18. One of the accused pretended to be a passenger. After she got in the two drove for four hours across the city, crossing four junctions, two toll booths and driving at least 22 km on the ORR with the victim.
They raped her in a deserted mango grove near Birla Open Minds School at Kollur in Medak, and then dropped her off at her hostel after threatening to kill her if she revealed the crime to anybody. Within four days, the cops had nabbed the suspects.
