‘Burn my son the same way she was burned,’ says mother of accused Hyderabad gang rapist

The families of the four men accused of the gang rape, murder, and desecration of Priyanka Reddy in a case which has shocked the whole of India, have called for their sons to be hanged and burned for what they did.

The four accused men currently in custody for the barbaric crime are Mohammad Pasha, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen, and Chintakunta Chennakeshavulu. Each of their families have faced public humiliation and intense scrutiny in the wake of the devastating crime.

“If my son is wrong, burn him the same way she was burned. Isn’t the victim also the daughter of a mother? I am suffering today, I can imagine what the girl’s mother is going through,” Chennakesavulu’s mother Jayamma said. “You hang him, kill him or shoot him dead. Will you listen if I say I want my son back? You give whatever punishment. I have a daughter too,” she added while fielding questions from journalists in Telangana.

“You do anything. God only knows,” the mother of the accused Siva said, echoing comments made by the parents of the accused Mohammad. 

Jollu Shiva who allegedly took Reddy’s bike away and who also reportedly bought the petrol used to burn her remains has been disowned by his family.

“I don’t want anything to do with my son. I have disowned him… I will not go to court when the trial starts either. He is dead to me,” Jollu Rajappa, Shiva’s father said, adding that his family have faced humiliation and public taunting after it was alleged that their son had participated in the appalling crime.

Jollu Naveen is accused of removing the air from Reddy’s tire and of partipicating in the gang rape and murder. 

“Of course I am angry with him. How dare he do something like this? How dare he even think of something like this? I am in disbelief that my son could be this person but I am so much more angry. He should be punished,” Naveen’s mother, Laxmi said. 

Under Indian law, the punishment for murder is death or imprisonment for life and a fine, while the punishment for gang rape is imprisonment for 20 years to life along with a fine to be paid to the victim.

The four men, all aged between 20 and 24, have also been charged with criminal conspiracy, kidnapping, intimidation, falsifying evidence, and robbery, among other charges.

The accused confessed to planning the murder in advance, puncturing one of the tires on Reddy’s motorbike, before ambushing her under the guise of offering her help, gang raping and then murdering her before burning her body some 25km (16 miles) away under a bridge. Locals discovered her charred remains the following morning. 

According to the police report, she was forced to drink alcohol before she was raped and murdered and later set on fire using a combination of petrol and diesel. 

The four accused have been kept in solitary confinement and under constant surveillance in the high-security wards of Cherlapally Central Prison since their arrest and subsequent confessions over the weekend. Their transport vehicle was attacked by an irate mob of citizens who pelted it with stones and shoes.

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