Hyderabad: Women and child welfare minister Sathyavathi Rathod was heckled and obstructed on Friday when she visited the house of Priyanka Reddy, the 27-year-old veterinarian, who was raped and burnt alive near Shamshabad.
The minister received flak mainly because of home minister Mahmood Ali’s comments earlier during the day. He had stated that it would have been better if Priyanka had called police instead of her sister when she needed help on Thursday night.
Several activists and neighbours had gathered outside Priyanka Reddy’s house on Friday. When Rathod’s convoy appeared in the evening, they started shouting slogans “We want justice” and “Shoot the culprit”.
Many of them held lit candles in their hands.
While coming out of the house after offering condolences to Priyanka’s family, Rathod was obstructed by the emotional mob.
The minister had to get out of her vehicle to talk to the people. The mob seemed to think that Rathod had made the insensitive comments in the media, which blamed Priyanka for her gruesome murder.
One of the protestors shouted at the minister, “What are you doing to ensure justice for Rathod? You are doing nothing. We’ll block the whole road. How can you blame Priyanka for the crime? Is this what you say in public,” the protestor asked. Rahod retorted: “We are doing everything we can.” However, the unrelenting mob made it impossible for her to speak.
Another emotional protestor said, “From the morning, ministers and MLAs have visited their house and left. We want to know what they are doing. She (Rathod) is a woman, she should understand our pain.”
It wasn’t clear what the protestors wanted the minister to do. But they were upset when Rathod left.
“She just huffed and left. Her gunman intimidated us and even slapped a person who was not willing to move,” a protestor said.
