Vadodara, Aug 20 A Vadodara court on Thursday convicted five persons in the 2024 case of a teenage girl's gangrape on a Navratri night in the city.
Additional District and Sessions Judge CM Pawar set August 25 for hearing on quantum of sentence.
Special Public Prosecutor Nayan Sukhadwala said that of the five accused, three had raped the girl, while two others were present and harassed the victim and her male friend. Under law, even those who merely stand by in a gangrape case are also liable, he noted.
"The court considered 'common intention' and found all five guilty," he added.
The court convicted the five accused on charges of gangrape, destruction of evidence and dacoity, among others, under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The convicts have been identified as Mumtaz, Ajmal, Munna Banjara, Saif and Shahrukh, in the age group of 25-30, the prosecutor said.
The incident occurred when the victim, then aged 16, was out with her male friend on October 4, 2024, a Navratri night when people come out in large numbers to participate in garba events organised throughout the city.
The accused persons gang-raped her while restraining her friend, the prosecution said.
The survivor told the police that she had gone out to meet her childhood friend in the city's Laxmipura area at around 11 pm. They were returning through the Bhayli locality on a scooty when, at around midnight, five persons on two-wheelers intercepted them on an isolated road.
"The accounts of the victim and her male friend who was present there were two direct evidence that the court considered. The victim first informed her brother and mother about the incident, and their account was also used as evidence," Sukhadwala said.
The victim's mobile phone was looted and thrown in the Vishwamitra river. The police and fire team tried to recover the phone, but did not succeed. But the court accepted it as evidence (that the phone was looted and thrown in the river), he said.
"Out of footage from 26 CCTV cameras, the accused persons were clearly visible in three, which the court accepted," he added.
