CBI exhumes remains of pharmacy student in Andhra 12 yrs after rape-murder

The forensic team of the CBI exhumed skull and bones of the girl’s body from her grave at the Chenchupenta burial ground in Tenali town in Guntur district in the presence of her mother and Tenali sub-collector Dinesh Kumar and block revenue officer K Ravi Babu.

Twelve years after the alleged rape and murder of a 19-year-old pharmacy student at a hostel in Vijayawada, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday exhumed her body and got a fresh autopsy conducted by forensic experts.

After collecting the samples, the CBI team sealed the skeletal remains of the body in a box and shifted it to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad for preservation. (FILE PHOTO.)

The forensic team exhumed the skeleton from the woman’s grave at Chenchupenta burial ground in Tenali town in Guntur district in the presence of her mother and Tenali sub-collector Dinesh Kumar and tehsildar (block revenue officer) K Ravi Babu.

The post-mortem was conducted for four hours.

“The forensic team examined the injured part of the skull and broken areas of her limbs. The team also collected some residues from the body parts,” Ravi Babu told reporters.

After collecting the samples, the CBI team sealed the remains of the body in a box and shifted it to Gandhi Hospital in Hyderabad for preservation.

The samples are being sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory in Hyderabad, an official said, adding that the CBI would conduct further investigation after obtaining the report from the forensic lab.

She was allegedly raped, beaten and stabbed to death at the hostel bathroom. A letter, purported to have been written by the killer, was found and it stated that he had killed for refusing his love was recovered from the spot.

The police investigation led to the arrest of one P Satyam Babu in August 2008.

A special court at Vijayawada, appointed by the then government, convicted Satyam Babu and sentenced him to imprisonment for 14 years in 2010.

Human rights activists and women’s groups challenged the judgment in the state high court at Hyderabad. The high court, on March 31, 2017, acquitted Satyam Babu. It also ordered the government to pay a compensation of R1 lakh to him for keeping him in jail for eight years.

In November 2018, the high court directed CBI to conduct fresh investigation into the rape and murder of the pharmacy student afresh and asked the Andhra police to hand over the case to CBI.

CBI, which over in January 2019, questioned the parents of the victim, Satyam Babu and also other suspects.