5 get life term till death for raping 16-year-old during Navratri in Vadodara

Nearly two years after the gangrape of a minor girl on a Navratri night, a POCSO court here on Monday sentenced all five convicts to imprisonment till their last breath, observing that the incident “cannot be taken lightly”.

The court also imposed a Rs 50,000 fine on each convict and ordered Rs 10 lakh compensation for the survivor, bringing the trial to a close 22 months after the crime was cracked through a three-second phone call, over 1,100 CCTV cameras and four lakh mobile-location records.

Additional District Judge CM Pawar pronounced the sentence in open court on Monday afternoon with all five convicts facing him. The sentence followed the court’s August 20 verdict convicting all five men after a trial in which the prosecution relied on a chain of circumstantial, forensic and digital evidence.

Special Public Prosecutor Nayan Sukhadwala said the court followed the principles laid down by the Supreme Court while determining the sentence. District Government Pleader Anil Desai told this newspaper, "We had sought death penalty or life until death, if the court would deem it appropriate to mete out a life term… The court considered our appeals, and the accused were sentenced to life until their last breath… The court observed that gangrape of a minor during a festival like Navratri, which is about reverence to women cannot be taken lightly.

It also upheld that it was a heinous crime committed in common intention by all accused and all five were awarded life imprisonment." The crime took place on October 4, 2024, the second night of Navratri. The 16-year-old girl had gone out to play ‘garba’ with a male friend.

Later that night, the two were sitting in an isolated area on the outskirts of the city when five men approached them on two motorcycles. The men allegedly took the key of their two-wheeler and threatened the pair, including with the threat of calling their families.

One of them demanded the girl’s father’s phone number. When the girl raised an alarm, two of the men fled. The remaining three allegedly restrained her friend when he tried to intervene and then sexually assaulted the girl.

The survivor and her friend subsequently reached the police station, around 2 km from the scene, where she reported the assault. The complaint triggered an intensive investigation involving city police and a Special Investigation Team.

The isolated location of the crime, with no CCTV camera at the scene, left the police in a blind spot. The accused were initially unidentified. Police began reconstructing their movements through CCTV footage along possible routes from the crime scene.

More than 1,100 cameras covering approximately 45 km were examined. More than 200 police personnel were deployed, while teams also searched more than 1,000 houses within a 3-km radius of the scene. The breakthrough came from the stolen mobile phone of the minor on which her mother had called around 12.30 am.

One of the five men inadvertently answered the call for about three seconds before disconnecting it. In those few seconds, the mother heard the sound of drums and DJ music in the background. Investigators used the location of the phone and the ambient sounds as clues, comparing them with the crime scene and the possible routes taken by the accused.

CCTV footage was scrutinised for motorcycles carrying three riders. Simultaneously, another police team analysed tower-dump data from five to six mobile towers, examining more than four lakh mobile-location records. The exercise yielded around 60 suspicious phone locations.

About 10 matched the suspected route between the crime scene and the location where the survivor’s phone had been answered. One suspicious phone was traced to an accused, whose phone had also registered a presence near the crime scene.

Investigators found another link when they traced the accused to a hotel, where they allegedly stopped for tea around 1.30 am. All five were arrested within 48 hours of the crime. The five men originally hail from Uttar Pradesh.

They were wage workers in Vadodara. Within 17 days of the crime, the police filed a 6,000-page chargesheet before the special POCSO court. It contained statements of nearly 100 witnesses, besides medical and FSL reports, DNA samples, CCTV footage and other documentary and scientific evidence.

During the trial, the prosecution examined 45 witnesses and produced documentary and scientific evidence. Forensic evidence relating to bodily fluids of the accused found on the victim's clothes also formed an important part of the prosecution case.

Sukhadwala said the prosecution had established every link in the chain of circumstantial evidence beyond reasonable doubt. "In a case based on circumstantial evidence, the circumstances must form a complete and coherent chain pointing to the guilt of the accused… The court ultimately accepted the prosecution’s evidence and convicted all five accused on August 20.

From an unidentified group to five convictions, it was a successful investigation and trial," Sukhadwala said on Monday.