Dandupalya

Opening with tension, the film opens as a gang is led to the prison for execution, and the vigilant Inspector Chalapathi [p-ravi-shankar] warns the warden to stay on high alert. The atmosphere is tense, and the weight of impending justice hangs heavy as the law closes in. In the midst of this, Indian Express investigative journalist Abhivyakti “Abhi” begins a painstaking reinvestigation, challenging the official narrative and insisting that there was little to no circumstantial evidence, no fingerprints, and no semen tests to confirm the alleged rape and murders. Her relentless pursuit of the truth sends her through a web of secrets that the case seems to conceal.

Her inquiries begin with a local jeweler, who reveals a troubling truth: the stolen ornaments were remade and passed off as evidence in court, and even a witness from Singapore appears to be a fabrication. Abhi uncovers a cascade of anomalies, including the absence of a formal FIR and the troubling claim that the gang was hauled away for 40 days under coercive methods in the name of interrogation. As she digs deeper, she meets the grieving parents of the victims, who recount how no neighbor ever saw the victims in the locality and how they were led to believe the accused were guilty—only because the police allegedly presented the victims to them and explained how the crimes were supposedly committed. The parents question the fairness of the process, noting that the poor are easy targets for a rushed, opaque system.

Despite an initial setback, Abhi gains an opportunity to speak with the accused, who are later moved to another prison designated for execution. There, they share their side of the story, challenging the narrative and accusing the police of using torture to force confessions. The gang recounts a brutal chain of hardship: migrating to an unfamiliar land, surviving on scant food, living in slums, facing rejection for domestic work, and occasionally surviving by eating stray animals. They describe finding work as construction laborers, only to be ensnared in a climate of fear and coercion as the Dandupalya crimes—killings, thefts, and gang-rapes—put enormous pressure on the local police to deliver results.

A pivotal moment occurs after a late-night movie outing, when the Inspector notices two of the gang members and uses force to discipline them for not showing their tickets, shoving them back to their slum. The following night brings a new tragedy: another murder and theft, and the inspector’s quick intervention leads to the squint-eyed member stealing a gold ring to mend his wife’s leg, only to be stopped as the inspector arrives and strikes again. Soon after, the police pull the rest of the gang away to a secluded site and subject them to brutal torture, including the sexual assault of a female gang member. After forty days of sustained abuse, the gang capitulates, confessing to crimes they maintain they did not commit.

Abhi responds to the coercive truth with a published exposé, accusing the police of violence and false evidence. The inspector confronts her, and the narrative shifts toward the aftermath—the repercussions of power, the fragility of justice, and the ongoing struggle to separate truth from enforced fate. The tale unfolds as a stark meditation on how desperation, poverty, and institutional pressure can distort justice, and it leaves viewers pondering who is truly guilty and who pays the price for a system under siege.

Last Updated: October 27, 2025 at 16:47