To keep baby safe, she surrendered to rapists
Third accused arrested during midnight raid in Bulandshahr, Uttar Pradesh; trio remanded in twoday police custody for further questioning
The three accused in the Manesar gangrape case had committed the crime after repeatedly threatening to kill her 8-month-old daughter. The threat was a ploy meant to force the woman into submission.
The arrest of the third accused in the wee hours of Thursday helped the police piece together the entire sequence of events. The three were produced in the local court and sent on remand for two days for further questioning, the police said.
According to the police, Jaikesh, who was arrested from Hisra village in Bulandshahr (UP) was driving the van and was also the mastermind who instigated the other two to indulge in the act. He was the first to commit rape, and he had repeatedly threatened to kill the 8-month old daughter of the victim if she tried to resist or fight back, an investigating officer in the case said.
Amit, the other accused who is also in his twenties, was arrested from Sirhaul toll plaza on Wednesday after he managed to get away from the police’s grasp at Bas Kusla village in the morning. The third accused, Yogender, was arrested from Bas Kusla village after he allegedly confessed to the crime to the village sarpanch.
Jaikesh fled Bas Kusla on May 31 itself and was arrested from near Hisra village on Thursday. “The accused was arrested from Bulandshahr and brought to Gurgaon. We have taken the trio on two-day police remand for questioning. They have confessed to the crime,” said Dharmvir Singh, ACP, Manesar, one of the key members of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed to crack the case.
Singh said Jaikesh had been living in Gurgaon for the last one-and-a-half years and he was very familiar with the city. The others had come to Manesar only recently to look for jobs. Jaikesh drove the Tata Magic van, which is owned by a Jharsa resident, it has been learned.
As per the police, though the trio does not have a criminal record, the Gurgaon police has asked its counterparts in Bulandshahr to look into their past. None of the three received higher education. Jaikesh cleared class 10, Amit dropped out after clearing his class 12 exam and Yogender studied till class 9.
Ashok Bakshi, the SIT in charge, said, “Jaikesh fled to his native place and it took strenuous effort to nab him from his hideout.”
Asked what measures the Gurgaon police will take to prevent such incidents in future, police commissioner Sandeep Khirwar said that they plan to increase their presence in the fringe areas and boost patrolling. “We will also ask the civic agencies to install more streetlights and fence off vacant plots so that anti-social elements could be checked. More recruits are likely to join the Gurgaon police and that will help,” he said, adding that the SIT had done a commendable job.
In order to ensure safety of residents in industrial estates, Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) has decided to set up a police station and one fire station in Manesar, apart from similar facilities in three other industrial estates across Haryana.