Gang rape accused remanded to police custody

An Ahmedabad court Saturday remanded five persons, including two women, to three days police custody in connection with the alleged gang rape of a city girl on New Year eve, following which she committed suicide.

Metropolitan magistrate S B Brahmbhatt ordered the five, Seema and Shreya Jaiswal (mother and sister of Sugam Jaiswal, who is in judicial custody), Pannalal Jaiswal (owner of Ashok Palace Hotel, where the alleged gang rape occured), Anand Jaiswal (Pannalal's son-in-law) and Ashok Patel (a businessman from Anand district), to police custody till January 27.

Meanwhile, Sajal Jain, the prime accused, whose three-day police remand ended Saturday was sent to judicial custody, even as the Naranpura police submitted an application seeking his re-arrest in the case of the victim's suicide.

Sajal's counsel informed the court that "he is willing to surrender in the offence registered in the Naranpura police station after the suicide by the alleged rape victim."

Earlier, in the day the prosecution led by Chetan Raval  pleaded for a 10-day police remand of the five accused to extract various details of the case including recovery of various articles of the victim that were allegedly destroyed by the family members of the accused.

The court also deferred for January 27 the hearing of a bail application of Pannalal Jaiswal, Anand Jaiswal and Ashok Patel that was filed Saturday.

The court also rejected an appeal made by counsel for the two women that "the city police had issued summons and had illegally detained them for the past 24 hours."

The prosecution in its remand application of the five accused said that the two women had allegedly destroyed the bedsheets and pillow covers from the hotel room where the incident occurred while the other accused had harboured the criminals on the run after the incident.

Advocate S V Raju, appearing on behalf of the two women, said police had violated Supreme Court ruling that women cannot be illegally detained and that stern action should be taken against the Crime Branch for recording their arrest on Friday even though the duo were nabbed on January 22 afternoon.

Advocate Saurin Shah, counsel for the other three accused, argued that his clients had no role to play in the incident and Ashok Patel just gave shelter to two of the accused on account of their business relations.