Cops serve Joker’s version of mob justice in India. But the joke is on the courts

In a Quentin Tarantino film, this would have been a gratifying end to a savage revenge plot. This execution, however, happened for real in Hyderabad, which left four dead bodies and a divided India, in its wake. Friday morning, around 3:30, four men charged with gruesome rape and killing of a veterinary doctor in this southern state, were gunned down in what the police are officially labeling as an encounter. The encounter took place at the very same spot where the horrifying incident took place a week back, bringing the case which roiled a nation’s conscience, to a swift but arguable closure.

The men charged with raping and killing the 26-year-old vet were identified as Mohammad Areef Pasha, Jollu Shiva, Jollu Naveen Kumar and Chintakunta Chenna Keshavulu. All four were brought to justice in a poetic twist at the same spot at Shadnagar off the national Highway-44 where eight days back they had allegedly forced themselves upon a young woman and had burnt her to death. Her charred body was recovered by cops after her family called them in based on their suspicion of wrongdoing after the victim’s last-minute call to them reeked of fear and a growing sense of unease.

In an official statement, the Telangana police said, “All four people accused in the rape and murder of woman veterinarian in Telangana have been killed in an encounter with the police.” The cops claim to have taken them to the spot to recreate the scene from the day of the incident. The turn of events in which the perpetrators were handed out a violent and swift end by the cops who claim the accused were attempting to run away from custody, has a nation divided on whether extra-judicial justice to criminals is justified.

The reaction among women in India is nothing short of euphoric. Feed from ANI news that went viral showed girls in Hyderabad passing by cops on duty cheering for them. Locals perched on the rooftops showered flowers on a passing police vehicle, others tied Rakhi on the wrists of the men in uniform. The entire turnaround in police image is being credited to Cyberabad Police Commissioner VC Sajjanar.  

Even actors down south, who have a popular following tweeted in support of the police execution of the alleged culprits. Nagarjuana, the King of Telugu cinema, tweeted, “This morning I wake up to the news and JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED!! #Encounter . He is not the only celeb who has come out in support of the police action. Seasoned actors Rishi Kapoor and Anupam Kher joined the league of cop fandom along with other actors.

According to Deccan Chronicle the father of the victim is now assured that his daughter’s soul will be in peace now. “It has been 10 days to the day my daughter died. I express my gratitude towards the police and the government for this. My daughter’s soul must be at peace now,” he told the news daily.  

Not everyone is amused by the jingoism around the extra-judicial killing of the four men. Defense analyst, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, termed it as blood-lust getting better of fixing the problem. “Wow! blatant extrajudicial murder, whose perpetrators will be rewarded & celebrated by the state. Worst part is twitter morons will celebrate, because they don’t want the rape problem fixed. No systemic solutions just bloodlust – cuz you know bloodlust is a substitute for policy,” he tweeted.

However, what several argued on a day the police killings unfolded was the utter lack of reforms in judicial process and the excruciatingly slow pace at which justice is delivered. As Kushan Mitra, author and journalist, pointed out: I would love it if the Judges of the Supreme Court and the ‘learned’ senior advocates instead of having petty ego battles, read some of the comments on social media platforms about this ‘encounter’, because this is a stinging indictment of the judicial process. According to reports, there are more than 50,000 cases pending with the Supreme Court of India and a whopping 35 million with the lower and state courts.

The public execution by the Cyberabad cops is a scene out of the critically acclaimed film Joker where the demented protagonist serves his own version of street justice amid mob euphoria. Set against the backdrop of corrupt and hopeless Gotham city, locals lap up the bloodbath on streets as much-desired justice served in the nick of time.

The debate over the killings of four ‘murderers’ would continue and possibly get Commissioner VC Sajjanar summoned by the courts, but for the vendetta-seeking pedestrian in India, justice has been served swift and cold in a land infested with roaches crawling free of red-tapism.