- Vadodara court sentenced all five Bhayali gangrape accused to life imprisonment.
- Police arrested culprits within 48 hours, filed chargesheet in 17 days.
- Victim awarded Rs 10 lakh compensation; convicts fined Rs 50,000 each.
A special POCSO court in Gujarat's Vadodara on Monday delivered a verdict in the case related to the gangrape of a 16-year-old minor victim in the high-profile Bhayli case. The Vadodara court convicted all five accused and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
Additionally, the court imposed a hefty fine of Rs 50,000 on each of the convicts and ordered the government to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the victim. The prosecution, on the other hand, has sought the death penalty for all the convicts.
Gangrape during Navratri celebration
The harrowing and barbaric incident took place on the night of the second day of Navratri in October 2024. The 16-year-old girl was returning with a friend after playing Garba in the Bhayli area. While returning, five miscreants on motorcycles intercepted them and forcibly snatched their bike keys after intimidating them.
While two of the accused fled the scene, the remaining three perpetrators forcibly restrained the victim's friend. They then subjected the minor girl to a brutal gang rape. After committing the heinous act, the accused stole the victim's mobile phone and escaped, taking advantage of the darkness.
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Police solved the case within 48 hours
Recognising the gravity of the incident, the Vadodara Police acted with exceptional promptness and arrested all the accused within just 48 hours of registering the case. To crack the challenging case, the police utilised technical surveillance, analysed tower dump data, and examined footage from over 1,100 CCTV cameras spread across a vast radius of approximately 45 kilometres.
The arrested accused were identified as Munna Banjara, Mumtaz Banjara, Shahrukh Banjara, Saifali Banjara, and Ajmal Sattar. All the accused, originally from Uttar Pradesh, worked as daily-wage labourers while residing in the Tandalja area of Vadodara.
Chargesheet in record 17 days
To ensure swift justice for the victim, the police filed a comprehensive 6,000-page charge-sheet before the court in a record time of just 17 days. During the trial, the statements of 45 key witnesses were recorded.
Additionally, conclusive reports from DNA and FSL teams were submitted as evidence to scientifically substantiate the case. Based on the strong evidence, the court convicted all five accused on August 20 and listed the matter for August 31 for delivering the quantum of punishment.