Trigger warning: While there are no graphic descriptions, this is a case of severe sexual violence. 

Researched by: Sara Varghese, Prafula Grace Busi & Sheya Kurian

Ok, tell me what happened in this case

The timeline of the events is as follows:

• On May 28, a boy from Bangalore organised a party for 100 people—along with three friends at a pub in Hyderabad. 
• The boy posted the details of the non-alcoholic, lunch-time party on Instagram—and was charging Rs 1,300 per head.
• The survivor was among many who turned up at the party with her friend—who left early. 
• During the course of the party, one of the minors and 18-year-old Saduddin Malik began to harass her—making her uncomfortable. (Malik is the only person who is over 18 and has therefore been named.)
• The survivor was standing outside the pub when seven boys plus Malik came up with a plan to assault her. 
• Four of them approached her outside—and got her to get into their Mercedes Benz—while Malik and three others followed separately in an Innova.
• The survivor was initially assaulted in the Benz—while the boys were videotaping their actions. The two cars parked at a nearby bakery—where all of them got into the Innova. 
• She was then taken in the Innova to an isolated place—with four of the minors plus Malik—who raped her, and dropped her back at the pub.
• The survivor did not share details of the assault with her parents until May 31—when a case was finally registered. 

About that Innova: It is an official vehicle allotted to the father of one of the minors. He is a prominent leader and heads a “key government organisation.” India Today earlier reported he was an official with the waqf board.

And these boys are from politicians’ families?

At least some of them are—and that’s why the case soon became a nasty political battle. Here’s how this bit of ugliness unfolded.

The video clip: It all started on Saturday when a BJP MLA Raghunandan Rao released a video clip and photos of the survivor being sexually assaulted in the Benz. He claimed that one of the boys in the images is the son of an AIMIM MLA. Rao even held a press conference to share his findings—claiming “I am fighting for the victim’s cause.” And he pointed out that he did not share the survivor’s identity—and her face was concealed. Rao also said he wanted to challenge the police’s attempt to protect the MLA’s son, threatening: “Will the police identify the youngster or should I provide more evidence?”

Point to note: Rao has been booked for revealing the identity of the survivor—but he has not been served a notice or questioned. Two others are also facing charges on similar grounds for uploading the clip on YouTube.

The protests: The BJP and Congress held protests alleging that the police were protecting some of the boys related to the ruling Telangana Rashtra Samithi party (TRS) and AIMIM leaders. A BJP spokesperson said:

“When it comes to heinous crimes such as gangrapes and daylight hacking, the standard operating procedure is to act on arresting the individuals even if based on circumstantial evidence. In this case the complainant has shared details of those who sexually assaulted her. Despite this, the Hyderabad police dragged their feet for five days to make the arrests.”

The arrests: So far six people have been arrested—five of them minors. Of these, five have been booked for gangrape, abduction, voluntarily causing hurt as also sections of the POCSO Act. These crimes carry punishments ranging from the death penalty to life imprisonment. These five include Saduddin Malik—who is the son of a local TRS leader. Another is the nephew of an MLA, according to The News Minute. Since almost all are minors, details of their political connections remain hazy.

The sixth person is the son of the AIMIM MLA who has been booked for outraging modesty of a woman, voluntarily causing hurt and also sexual assault—but not gang rape. The reason for the lesser charge: “He had travelled a short distance in the Innova and then returned as he got a phone call, so it was five people who committed the rape.”

Ugliness to watch for: The Vishwa Hindu Parishad is already claiming that all major crimes in the past 20 years—including rape—have been committed by Muslims. Given the current climate, the religious identity of the accused may easily become a flashpoint.

Is Hyderabad particularly unsafe for women?

While all the attention has been on this case, there have been five other horrific rapes in Hyderabad in recent days. They include a 16-year-old orphan, an 11-year-old child, a teenage salesperson, a minor in a movie theatre, and a 15-year-old. All these cases—with the exception of one—involve gang rape. The number of registered rape cases has been rising over recent years in Hyderabad—and neighbouring Cyberabad and Rachakonda.

Data point to note: Among the states in South India, Telangana recorded the highest number of cases of violence against women in 2020—and is in the national top ten list. Where Telangana reported a total of 17,791 such crimes—Andhra Pradesh was not far behind with 17,089. In comparison, the numbers for Karnataka (12,680), Kerala (10,139) and Tamil Nadu (6,630) were far lower. Of course, these numbers pale in comparison to Uttar Pradesh (49,385), West Bengal (36,439), Rajasthan (34,535) and Maharashtra (31,954).

Reading list

The reporting of this case is extremely fragmented—distributed in bits and pieces across lots of stories. And the known facts have been changing up until the police released information yesterday. For the most comprehensive take—along with a detailed timeline—we strongly recommend reading this News Minute report.