Over seven years after the brutal attack on bank employee Jyothi Uday inside an ATM kiosk at the busy N.R. Square on November 19, 2013, the city civil and sessions court, on Tuesday, sentenced the accused, Madhukar Reddy, to 10 years imprisonment.
The court convicted Reddy for robbery, causing grievous hurt, and for destroying evidence. The court also slapped a fine of ₹10,000 on him and directed the district legal services authority to compensate the victim suitably.
Reddy’s counsel pleaded before the court to give minimum punishment as his mother is bedridden and has no caretaker, but the court, considering the brutality of the attack and the criminal background of the accused, awarded maximum punishment.
Reddy, soon after attacking Jyothi Uday, snatched her purse containing a small amount of cash, debit card and ID card. The victim pleaded to be let go, but the accused attacked her with a machete multiple times and escaped, leaving her bleeding profusely.
The entire incident was captured on the CCTV camera and the footage sent shock waves across the city and beyond, creating a fear psychosis among people visiting ATMs.
The city police formed as many as 15 teams to track down the accused, and after three years of search, filed a ‘B’ report. The then city Police Commissioner also cracked the whip on banks for not having security measures at ATM kiosks and even ordered the jurisdictional police to shut kiosks down until security measures are in place.
Reddy, who was on the run, was arrested by the Madanapalli police in 2017 after a policeman, while on patrolling duty, identified him while he was moving suspiciously.
Reacting to the punishment, Ms. Uday said that she respects the court verdict, but hopes that such incidents should not be repeated.
