"HER BODY WAS STILL BURNING WHEN POLICE AND HER FATHER ARRIVED" ... "SHE WAS ONLY 3.5KM AWAY FROM HER HOME" WITNESSES RECALL!

A 26-year-old veterinary doctor Priyanka Reddy was raped and murdered and immolated by 4 men in Hyderabad on Wednesday. The incident has come as a shocker to the nation.

Recalling the incident, the witnesses have spoken to The News Minute. A witness, who was on his way to milk cows at 5 am noticed fire near the Bangalore-Hyderabad underpass. Initially ignoring it as some bonfire, he noticed it was a human body only at 8 am. A part of the arm was not burnt and that’s what first caught my eye. Upon closer inspection, I realised it was a body being burnt,” he said.

The doctor called her family around 9.30 pm and her phone was switched off by 9.40 pm. She was only 3.5 km away from her residence. “Her body was still burning when the police arrived, they were the ones who doused the fire. Her father was also with them,” he further added. It was her father who identified her body with the locket she was wearing.

Another youth working in the toll booth told TNM that “She asked me if there was a tyre repair shop nearby. I told her that I did not know, and they kept walking towards the Shamshabad direction. I didn’t notice what happened after that. Around 10, I went to sleep. I told the police the same and helped them describe the person who was with her at the time. I really did not know where the tyre repair shop was; I am new here,” he said. He had joined the booth a month ago.

The toll booth and the junction leading to it which were set 500 metres apart. Only both the places had CCTV and light. There were no street lights and “Even if you scream from here, no one can hear you due to the sound of vehicles on the road,” said a police officer.

The unwalled area and the bushes where she was raped and murdered was visible from the toll booth youth's place. But that day, his view was blocked by the accused's truck.

The 4 accused have been presented before the city court and are under 14 days police custody while her family and the nation is mourning her loss.