19-year-old Dalit woman gangraped at gunpoint in Gujarat; no arrests yet

Rajkot, Feb 28: Three men allegedly kidnapped a 19-year-old Dalit woman and raped her at gunpoint in a car in Gujarat's Rajkot district, police said on Thursday. No arrest has been made yet.

In her complaint to the district police, the woman, a native of Kotdasangani taluka, claimed she was raped at gunpoint by one Amit Padaliya and his friends Vipul Shekhda and Shanti Padaliya on Wednesday, they said. It is alleged Amit Padaliya is a local BJP leader who had earlier served as general secretary of the party's Kotdasangani taluka unit.

Reportedly, Shanti Padaliya is an elected Congress member of Kotdasangani taluka panchayat. Police investigation has revealed that Amit Padaliya's mother is the sarpanch of the village where the victim lives.

According to the police, in her complaint, the victim claimed the trio kidnapped her from her house in the afternoon and forced her to sit in their car. The three raped the woman at gunpoint in the vehicle and dropped her near her house in the evening, the police said. She then got herself admitted to Gondal Civil Hospital and submitted her complaint to the police on Thursday evening, they said.

"We have lodged an FIR against the three persons. We have learnt that Amit is the son of a sarpanch. "We do not know about their (the accused) political affiliations," said Rajkot SP Balram Meena. No one has been arrested yet, he added.