Vadodara, Oct 9 (PTI) After the arrest of five men for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl in Vadodara city, the civic body on Wednesday said the houses given on rent to two of the key accused were constructed “illegally” and hence notices were issued to their owners.
While three main accused in the case — Munna Vanzara, Mumtaj Vanzara and Shahrukh Vanzara – were arrested on October 7, two others – Ajmal Sattar and Saif Ali – were nabbed on Tuesday. All of them were remanded to police custody till Thursday (Oct 10) by a local court on Tuesday.
It was revealed that the accused persons, working as labourers and originally belonging to Uttar Pradesh, settled down in the Gujarat city more than ten years ago.
Of these, Munna Vanzara and Mumtaz Vanzara reside in the city’s Ekta Nagar area, said deputy Town Development Office (TDO) of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC), Dinesh Devmurari.
“We have found that the houses in which these two accused are living are totally illegal as they were built by their owners without permission from authorities. Thus, we pasted show-cause notices on their houses on Tuesday and gave them three days to submit an explanation along with required proof,” said Devmurari.
The officer emphasised that a decision on demolition will be taken after studying the replies furnished by the two house owners who had rented their houses to the rape accused.
The show-cause notices, having common text, have mentioned that the house has been built without permission and such illegal construction can not be regularised by the civic body.
“Why should the illegal construction not be demolished? A reply explaining the reasons must be furnished within three days in person or through your representative. If you fail to do so, the illegal construction will be demolished and cost will be recovered from you,” the notice said.
The teenage girl was allegedly raped on Friday by the three main accused who also restrained her male friend on a deserted stretch on the city’s outskirts on a Navratri night when revellers come out in large numbers to participate in ‘garba’ (a popular folk Dance of Gujarat) events, police had said.
According to police, five men approached the girl and her male friend on two motorcycles. While two of them – Ajmal Sattar Saif Ali – left the spot, the other three sexually assaulted the girl and also snatched her mobile phone.
The incident triggered a massive uproar and raised questions over the safety of people, especially women, going out during the night to celebrate the Navratri festival. PTI COR PJT PD RSY
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