One arrested in Surat gangrape and loot case

In a gruesome incident, a girl was assaulted and later gangraped by four people at Sultanabad near Dumas on the Gujarati New Year eve in Surat. As if this was not enough, the culprits also thrashed her fiancé who was with her and later fled with their valuables. However, police sprang into action and arrested one of the culprits from Dindoli on Wednesday.

Police arrested one Jitendra Singh alias Raju 30, a resident of Dindoli in this connection. Singh, who is originally from Bihar, works in a textile mill in Pandesara.

Priya (name changed), 21, a resident of Begumpura had gone to Sultanabad on October 27 with her fiancé. They were sitting outside a temple, when a group of four youths started passing abusive remarks and tried to misbehave with Priya. In a bid to prevent any further tussle, the couple wanted to leave the area, when they were intercepted by the gang and started attacking Rakesh.

They thrashed Rakesh till he was unconscious. Frightened, Priya tried to flee the spot, but the miscreants grabbed her. The youths molested her and tore off her clothes and her entreaties for help fell on deaf ears. Priya's resistance angered the gang members who even assaulted her, which left her in a semi-unconscious state taking advantage of which, all four repeatedly raped her.
The four culprits then looted Rakesh and Priya of all their valuables including a gold chain, a gold ring, and Rs4,000 in cash as well as their cell-phones. Profusely bleeding from the assault, Priya was abandoned there as the men fled the spot.

After an hour, Priya regained consciousness and found Rakesh and somehow the duo made it to the nearest habited area. People gave Priya some clothes and later informed her family members.

However, fearing social slander, the couple's family members stayed away from lodging a police complaint even after 48 hours of the incident. However, word of the incident reached the cops and as the victim didn't turn up to register a case, Surat Police become complainant in the incident and Umra police started investigations.

According to Rakesh Asthana, police commissioner of Surat, "Singh along with his three other friends went to Sultanabad, where they spotted Priya and committed the crime. Later they hired auto-rickshaw and returned home. The auto-driver has identified Singh and we have initiated hunt for three other culprits." Asthana further said that apart from auto-driver's statement, mobile location also helped in solving the case. Interestingly, the auto-driver lives in the same society where Singh lives and so he quickly identified him.