Hyderabad:The evening of September 30 turned dreadful for an otherwise peaceful locality of Navodaya Colony in Jubilee Hills with the murder of a 44-year-old homemaker. When her two children returned from their tuition in the evening, they found the body of their mother R. Sudha Rani in a pool of blood. The culprit robbed the house and decamped with 12 tolas of gold and other valuables.
As her husband informed the police, multiple police teams arrived at the spot. “Police also seemed a bit shocked as they have never expected such a gory murder to happen in this area,” said a resident. The news spread in this middle-class colony like wildfire. The residents were first aghast and then started panicking.
About three weeks on, this murder seems to have changed the way the residents see their locality.
“We have never heard of such incidents in this locality. It was difficult to digest that a woman was murdered for gold in this locality. We have started wondering what would happen if such robberies were to repeat,” said K. Niranjan, who has been pressing clothes in Navodaya Colony for the past 20 years. He said he used to work until midnight, but now he closes the shop at 10 pm.
Talking to Deccan Chronicle, Ch. Sruthi, a homemaker, said she immediately checked the doors of her house for necessary repairs and alerted their watchman. “I was truly afraid that a robber could break into my house and attack me when my husband goes to the office during the day. I have called my sister to be with me for a few days and also told my watchman to be present in the house premises,” she explained.
For more than a week, this agony continued until the police declared that they had arrested the killer. On October 8, the police arrested autorickshaw driver Shaik Javeed and seized the gold and knife he used for murder. Police revealed that Javeed killed Sudha Rani due to their differences over financial matters.
Javeed alleged that he had paid `2.8 lakh as the subscription to her chit fund and never got his money back. Fed up with the continuous quarrels on financial matters, he killed Sudha Rani and fled the spot with her gold and other valuables.
People stopped feeling anxious only after the police announcement about the arrest of the killer, said K. Rajendra, an electrician at a local apartment. “People were worried that violent robberies would continue and more such incidents could take place in this area. Now, they feel somewhat relieved,” he explained. However, he said, not many people, particularly housewives, know this news yet and many of them continue to be watchful. “Now, people have become more observant unlike in the past,” he added.
