TCN News
Lateef Mohd Khan, the general secretary of Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee has stated in a press statement that it has been ten years since the brutal rape and murder of 19-year-old Ayesha Meera a native of Tenali and a student of Nimra Medical college of Vijayawada, but till now justice has eluded Ayesha Meera and her family.
“With the unholy collusion and nexus of the politicians and policemen the whole investigation process has been sabotaged. And to save the real perpetrators of crime the supposed to be an independent and impartial investigation was influenced and given a wrong direction, thus making a mockery of justice,” said the statement.
19-year-old Ayesha Meera was a first year B.Pharma student at Nimra Medical college who just returned back to her college hostel after celebrating Eid with her family. Ayesha was sadistically raped and dreadfully murdered on the night of December 27, 2007 and her blood soaked naked dead body was thrown in the bathroom of the hostel.
The incident sparked a rage of anger and sorrow among the general public and there was a widespread belief about the involvement of the hostel’s warden, grandson of a politician and the local Vijayawada mafia in the incident as there was a Christmas party underway at the ground floor of the hostel in the night when this incident has occurred.
Since the very beginning of the investigation Police did not act in a fair manner and it showed the arrest of some other person and announced that particular person to be the assailant of Ayesha Meera. “As a result of this pernicious investigation in the end a handicapped dalit youth Satyam Babu was made a scape goat,” alleges CLMC’s press statement.
The local trail court even appallingly convicted the handicapped youth and gave him a sentence of 14 years imprisonment. But in April 2017, the Hon’ble High Court reversed the trail court’s judgement and finding fault in the police investigation the High Court did not just acquit the Satyam Babu but also ordered the government to pay the compensation to Satyam Babu and also order disciplinary action against the police officer who detracted the investigation process.
Chandrababu Naidu, as the leader of opposition at the time took political advantage of this incident and declared the involvement of local congress leaders in the crime. But he managed silence on the issue after becoming chief minister of the state. Naidu led state government allegedly went against the directions of the high court by not calling for reinvestigation into this haunting crime. In these hostile conditions, parents of Ayesha Meera are running from pillar to post begging justice for their slain child.
The Civil Liberties Monitoring Committee on this juncture of the 10th anniversary of Ayesha Meera’s rape and murder has demanded the Government of Andhra Pradesh to conduct a fresh, fair and impartial investigation from the beginning. “It’s an appeal to the people to build pressure on the government of Andhra Pradesh led by Chandrababu Naidu to deliver justice to slain Ayesha Meera and her grieving family,” read the press statement further.
The civil societies should not forget that Ayesha Meera was the daughter of Teachers (both father and mother are in teaching profession) and a girl student of socially and educationally backward Muslim community, who wanted to pursue higher studies in medical course to make a status in the society and to serve the humanity.
“For the sake of the self-respect of the respect of parents and greater interest of humanity, Ayesha Meera’s soul should receive justice and her murderers should face the punishment for their inhuman crimes,” said the CLMC’s note.