One of the two men arrested on charges of gangrape of a girl in Gujarat’s Surat died on Thursday. He was admitted to a hospital after complaining of breathing problems during police custody, where he died.
Giving information about this, an official said that Shivshankar Chaurasia (45) and Munna Paswan (40) were arrested on Wednesday on charges of raping a minor.
Surat district superintendent of police Hitesh Joysar said, ‘I was informed that Chaurasia had complained of difficulty in breathing at around 2 pm, after which he was taken to a health center in Kamrej area. From where he was referred to the new civil hospital, where he died during treatment.
Joysar said that the police will present the second accused Paswan in the court in the evening to take him on remand. According to police, Paswan, Chaurasia and another accused had gang-raped a 17-year-old girl in Mangrol taluka on Tuesday night. Police said that the third accused has not been caught yet.
Superintendent of Police said, ‘At the time of the incident, the minor had gone to meet her friend after her coaching class. During this time, he ate ice cream with two of his friends at around 10:30 pm. Then he and his friends were sitting in a deserted place near Mota Borsara village, when three persons came to them.
The police officer further said that after this the three accused caught hold of the girl, while her friends ran away from there. He told that after this he raped the girl and then ran away.
After receiving the information, the police registered a case under the Indian Justice Code (BNS) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses (POCSO) Act under gang rape and other charges. Two of the three accused were nabbed from a nearby area on Wednesday evening, police said in a release, adding that the police had to open fire while taking Paswan and Chaurasia into custody.
Police said that several cases are registered against both the accused in areas like Ankleshwar, Kadodara, Amirgarh and Curzon. Out of which, a case of murder was registered against Chaurasia in Ankleshwar in 2017 and a case of theft was registered in Curzon in 2023. This year, a case was registered against him under the Arms Act at Amirgarh police station in Banaskantha.
