Did SUV Have ‘Enough Space’ For Rape To Take Place? Vadodara Police’s Request For Report Has RTO Puzzled

Vadodra: In an unusual incident, the Local Crime Branch (LCB) of the Vadodara district police made a request to Road Transport Office (RTO) officials.

It has asked the officials to give a certificate for a sports utility vehicle (SUV) to know whether the vehicle has “enough space” for rape to take place after the front seat was “pushed back”. 

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According to a report by Indian Express, the request has been made in the context of an SUV which was confiscated in an alleged case of rape. LCB seeks to ascertain whether the vehicle has “enough space” for rape to take place after the front seat was “pushed back” and has also sought a report on the sturdiness of the vehicle’s central locking system.

The Vadodara RTO Officials said that it was the first such request they have had received. The SUV owner and accused was identified as Bhavesh Patel, a former councillor of Padra Municipality and former director of an agricultural produce market corporation (APMC).

As per the report, an unnamed RTO official said that the department issues certificates after inspecting cars involved in hit-and-run and accidents, where the fitness of the vehicle to run on the road is certifiable and it can help police in accident cases.

The department definitely cannot opine on whether the crime has occurred in that much space or not. It is for the police to prove, the officer was quoted as saying.

On the other hand, LCB officers told The Indian Express that they needed the certificate to “substantiate” the case.

LCB Police Inspector Divansinh Vala informed that woman who has alleged rape was made to undergo “height tests” along with the accused. The request about the central locking system has been made, anticipating that the defence might question the victim as to why she did not open the door and escape when the vehicle was stationary, he reportedly said.

According to the woman, she and Patel knew each other through a common friend.

In her complaint, the complainant stated that she was attending a party at a farmhouse on April 26, when at midnight a police patrol team reached the spot and the woman took cover in a nearby field. She called her friend and requested to be picked up and the friend had sent Patel to help her.

As per the accusations, Patel arrived after midnight and took the woman to an isolated location, then attempted to rape her. He also allegedly threatened the woman when she resisted. She stated that he drove the vehicle for about two hours and raped her at the isolated location before dropping her at her house.

The police complaint was lodged on April 30 and then the accused was caught in Jaipur on May 2 and is under judicial custody.

Inspector Divansinh Vala has been reported as stating that Patel is an influential local leader, having 18 other cases against him and so they are trying to make a watertight case against him so that he unable to deny the sequence of events.