Four murder suspects were thrashed in public by policemen in Guntakal, Andhra Pradesh
Four murder suspects were thrashed in full public view at Guntakal town in Andhra Pradesh on Saturday by a team of policemen who claim they wanted to "counsel them and set an example."
The policemen, led by Deputy Superintendent of Police E Supraja, reportedly took the suspects to a crowded bus depot of the town - where the men had allegedly killed a 65-year-old man - and beat them mercilessly, watched by hundreds of people on the street and on rooftops.
The incident was reportedly filmed on mobile phone cameras by some of the spectators in the large crowd seen heckling the suspects and cheering the police.
In footage shown on TV channels on Sunday, the four were seen kneeling down with their hands folded, as police officers, including DSP Supraja, hit them repeatedly with sticks and slapped them.
"Taking the law into their own hands is unwarranted," the state's Director General of Police B Prasada Rao today, said in the first official condemnation of the act.
The suspects had been in jail since November 30. The main accused, Sekhar, allegedly killed his father-in-law over a family dispute. His brother and two friends were also arrested for abetting the crime.
The police officers also allegedly urged Sekhar's wife, the daughter of the man who was killed, to slap him.
This is the second such case of police excess in the Anantapur district. Recently, some young men allegedly caught harassing women were also beaten up at the same bus station.