Girls confined illegally, one raped as ‘repayment’ of loan!

Unable to repay a loan of Rs40,500, a girl was allegedly raped by a money-lender who kept the girl and her younger sister in illegal confinement for a week. The incident occurred in Vivekanandnagar under the Kanbha police station jurisdiction, just 25 kms away from Ahmedabad on October 24.

According to Kanbha police station in-charge, PB Rana, on Friday, the girl's parents had had lodged a complaint stating that their two daughters had been wrongfully confined by a man identified as Rajesh Patel alias Lalo. After receiving the information the police raided the house of Patel and rescued the girls.

In her complaint the victim (identity withheld) stated that she had taken a loan of Rs40,500 from Patel who is a money-lender and a landlord. The girl tried to repay the loan by selling cotton oils but could not earn the required amount.

After threatening the girl and her family on October 22, Patel sent his two wives to bring the girl to his house. Police said that the unsuspecting girl came to Patel's house, but was not allowed to leave. The next day the girl's teenage sister tried to rescue her but she was also 'captured' by Patel.

On October 24, Patel allegedly transferred the girls to his other house. Rana told DNA that on the same night Patel raped the girl twice. Her family members who requested Patel to leave their daughters alone, were also thrashed.

"On Friday the girls' brother approached us and informed us about the incident. We raided the place and rescued the girls," said Rana. He further added that the girl had named seven people including the two wives of Patel identified as Usha and Sharmishta Patel as the accused. The police arrested one of the accused identified as Ramesh Makwana while the rest are still absconding.