Reopening Vijayawada Rape & Murder Case After 12 Years, CBI 'Orders' Post-mortem of Exhumed Body

Hyderabad: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will begin a probe into the 2007 rape and murder case of a 19-year-old student. Authorities will conduct another post-mortem of the deceased victim on Saturday.

The 19-year-old pharmacy student was brutally raped and murdered in a hostel in Vijayawada. She was found in her bathroom in a pool of blood with stab wounds. A letter found at the scene states that the girl had been raped and murdered for refusing an “offer of love”.

At the time, several students, women and social rights organizations protested over the incident demanding justice.

In the course of the investigation, police on August 17, 2008 arrested a person named Satyam Babu, the prime accused in the case. The police said that Babu had been involved in similar cases and had even confessed to killing the 19-year-old students.

Relatives of Sayam Babu and human rights activists alleged that the police was trying to book him in an effort to shield the actual culprits, who they claim have political clout. They further pointed out that Satyam Babu is unable to walk as well as he suffers from a neurological disorder.

Following this, the Vijayawada women’s special sessions court sentenced Satyam Babu to 14 years.

Satyam Babu, however, challenged the judgment in the High Court. In a landmark judgement on 31 March 2017, the court not only acquitted him but also awarded a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for being lodged in jail for eight years.

After Satyam Babu was acquitted in the case, a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the High Court that sought a re-investigation into the rape and murder case.

Then on 29 November 2018, the High Court of Andhra Pradesh directed CBI to investigate the case afresh. The Andhra Pradesh Police was asked to handover the case details to the CBI, according to this order.

After filing the case, the CBI will now conduct an autopsy of the dead body, which was buried.

According to sources, local police received directions from higher officials to cooperate with the CBI officials and make the necessary arrangements. A report in the Newsminute had said that the CBI had sought permission in June to have the body exhumed.