Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Friday hailed the alleged encounter of four accused in the Hyderabad rape-murder case saying the "demons were punished for their sins".
The four men arrested for the rape and murder of a 25 -year-old woman veterinarian in Hyderabad were killed in an 'exchange of fire' with a police team on Friday morning.
"Demons of Hyderabad have been punished for their sins. Entire country has heaved a sigh of relief. The wicked should be treated in this manner," Chouhan said in a tweet.
"The people who treat others badly should be paid back in the same coin. I am delighted that justice was delivered quickly," he said in another tweet.
In December 2017, Madhya Pradesh became the first state to enact a law, providing for death penalty for rapists of girls below 12 years of age. Chouhan was the chief minister of the state at that time.
During his 13-year-long tenure as the CM, which ended a year ago, Chouhan strongly advocated for capital punishment to rapists of minors girl, and set up fast track courts to deal with such cases.
"We made the provision of death for rapists in Madhya Pradesh, but due to the trial and mercy petitions justice gets delayed. When justice is delayed the fear eludes and that why justice should be delivered instantly," Chouhan said on Twitter.
State Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi expressed confidence that the Hyderabad killings would instill fear in the minds of criminals.
"The killing of the rape accused persons in Hyderbad would help in checking the disturbing incidents of rapes, which I feel has risen due the delay in justice delivery system," he said.
"The reaction in the country shows that people are happy and this will create fear among the rapists," he added.
Rashida Bi, an activist working for the Bhopal Gas tragedy survivors, however, condemned the police action.
"Police have not done a good thing. The accused should have been tortured to death as they had killed the woman...They should have been hanged."
"They were killed in the blink of an eye. This has not sent a good signal to the society," she said.
She, however, added that if those killed were innocent, then the real culprits will get away unpunished.
Advocate Dharmedra Gupta was of the view that although the police did a "good job", their method was "wrong".
"If the accused were really trying to escape, then police have done right by killing them. But if the encounter is fake, it is just one more case of mob lynching," he added.
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