By IANS
Hyderabad : The parents of Ayesha Meeran, a student who was murdered in a hostel in Vijayawada, Thursday met Vice-President Mohammed Hamid Ansari seeking proper investigation into her death.
Ibal Basha and his wife Begum accompanied by a delegation of the leaders of main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) met Ansari and alleged that the state government was trying to shield culprits.
TDP leader in Lok Sabha K. Yerran Naidu later told reporters that they explained the details of the case and also the Congress government’s attempts to shield the guilty.
The girl’s parents said they did not want a probe by CBI but demanded powers be given to Vijayawada police commissioner C.V. Anand to conduct independent and impartial probe. “We have full faith in Anand but the government should give necessary powers to him,” said Begum.
TDP leaders alleged that CBI probe ordered by the government Tuesday was a diversionary tactic as relatives of a senior minister were allegedly involved in the crime.
Earlier in the day, representatives of various women’s organizations called on Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy demanding probe by International Truth Foundation besides a CBI inquiry.
They submitted a memorandum to the chief minister and said the probe by both the bodies was necessary to bring the culprits to book and ensure harsher punishment to the guilty. Mahila Sangham leader Pashya Padma told reporters that the chief minister responded positively to their demands.
Ayesha, 19, a first year student of B. Pharmacy, was raped and murdered in her room in a private hostel in Vijayawada city on the night of Dec 27 last year.
A letter, allegedly written by the “murderer” had been found near the body, stating that the girl was raped and murdered for refusing his request for “love”.
Ayesha, who hails from Tenali in Guntur district, had returned to the hostel the same day after celebrating Eid at her native place.
Her parents alleged that the Vijayawada police were deliberately going slow in the probe as the culprits were backed by some “big politicians” of the ruling Congress party.
State Human Rights Commission, on a petition by Ayesha’a parents, last week conducted a public hearing in the case, especially into the failure of police in bringing the culprits to book.
Police interrogated more than 50 people, including private hostel warden Padma and her husband Krishna, and also conducted lie detector and DNA tests on 12 people but could not make any progress in the probe. The DNA samples of a dozen suspects did not match the semen samples found on the body.
Minister for Municipal Administration Koneru Ranga Rao has denied the allegations by TDP leaders that he was trying to influence the investigations. He even offered to quit active politics if the involvement of any of his family members in the murder was established.
He added that his family was being targeted on the basis that a suspect had the same surname as his.