Hyderabad encounter horrifying, cannot kill people because you want to: Maneka Gandhi

BJP leader Maneka Gandhi on Friday slammed the Uttar Pradesh police for the killing of four men accused in the Telangana gangrape-murder case and said it set a "horrifying" precedent for the country.

Also Read: Hyderabad encounter case raises questions society must ask

"Jo bhi hua hai bohot bhayanak hua hai is desh ke liye (What happened was horrifying for the country)... You cannot kill people because you want to. You cannot take law in your hands, they (accused) would have been hanged by court anyhow," the former union women and child development minister told reporters in Parliament complex.

Earlier in the day, President Ram Nath Kovind had said there should be "no mercy for rapists," adding, these kind of crimes "shock the whole nation".

All four accused in the rape and murder case of a 25-year-old woman near Hyderabad last month were killed in an exchange of fire with police in the wee hours on December 6.

The encounter took place around 3.30 am when the accused were taken to the site of the offence for the reconstruction of the scene of the crime as part of the investigation, a senior police official told news agency PTI.

The four men, all lorry workers, aged between 20 and 24, were arrested on November 29 for raping and killing the woman by smothering her and later burning her body. They were remanded to seven days' judicial custody.