Bhayli minor gang rape case accused sent on 2-day remand; thrashed in court

Vadodara: The Additional District and Sessions Court today remanded the accused in the Bhayli gang rape case to police custody for two days, until 3 PM on October 10th. The accused, identified as Munna Vanzara (27), Mumtaj Vanzara (36), and Shahrukh Vanzara (36), were first taken to the Mamlatdar’s office for identification before being produced in court. Two other accused who ran away from the scene are identified as Ajmal Vanzara and Saif Ali Vanzara.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had sought a 14-day remand but was only granted two days. Meanwhile, as the accused were being taken outside the courtroom, people present there hurled abuses at them and slapped them on the back of their heads. A video of the incident has gone viral.

The five accused, originally from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested on Monday for rape of a 16-year-old girl in the Bhayli area of the city on October 4th. Today, the district police brought the accused to Mamlatdar (Rural) Shailesh Desai’s office, where the victim identified all of them. After the identification process, which lasted about an hour, the accused were taken to the Taluka police station and later produced in court for remand.

The Vadodara Crime Branch, with support from the Ahmedabad Crime Branch, launched an extensive manhunt involving more than 200 police personnel. The investigation entailed reviewing over 1,100 CCTV footage clips covering a distance of 45 kilometers and conducting searches in more than 1,000 houses located within a 3-kilometer radius of the incident site.

Darshan Patel, the former sarpanch of Bhayli village, praised the crime branch and Gujarat police for nabbing the accused within 48 hours. He also expressed his desire for the police to inflict further punishment on the criminals, suggesting that they be thrashed in public to deter others from committing similar acts. DeshGujarat