Gujarat man held for rape-murder of 76-year-old after taking her in autorickshaw; earlier cases involved minor

Rajkot: An autorickshaw driver has been arrested in Rajkot for allegedly abducting a 76-year-old woman who earned a living through begging, sexually assaulting and killing her before dumping her body near Aji Dam, police said on Friday. Police said the accused, identified as Ramesh Vaidhukiya has previously been named in three serious criminal cases including the rape and murder of a pre-nursery child.

Ramesh Vaidhukiya, was traced after Aji Dam police examined CCTV footage and used human intelligence following the discovery of the woman’s body on August 21.

The case initially began as an accidental death investigation, but the forensic post-mortem and the circumstances surrounding the death prompted police to investigate it as a suspected crime.

The deceased, Lila Solanki, 76, was identified after police circulated details of the unidentified body in newspapers.

Her grandson, Ajay Solanki, told police that he had left her near Sat Hanuman Temple on Kuwadva Road at around 11 a.m. on August 19, where she regularly sat to beg. When he returned at about 5:30 p.m., she was missing.

After failing to locate her, the family filed a missing-person report at Kuwadva Road police station on August 20.

Police said their investigation included verification of the route between the place where Lilaben was last seen and where her body was recovered. CCTV footage led investigators to an autorickshaw driver who had picked her up from near the temple.

According to the police, Vaidhukiya told investigators that he picked up Lila at around 4 p.m. on August 19, saying he would take her home.

He allegedly stopped at different locations before assaulting her with a wooden stick and taking her in a semi-conscious condition to the Aji Dam area near Mogal Mataji Temple on the Rajkot-Bhavnagar Highway.

Police alleged that he sexually assaulted her in the autorickshaw and continued beating her, causing her death.

He then allegedly wrapped her body in cloth and dumped it on the banks of Aji Dam before fleeing in the autorickshaw, allegedly in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Aji Dam police subsequently registered a case under Sections 103(1), 64(2)(l), 66, 87 and 238(a) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Section 135 of the Gujarat Police Act.

Police said Vaidhukiya has previously been named in three serious criminal cases.

These include a 2010 murder case registered at Chotila police station, in which he was accused of killing a person with a wooden stick and stone and throwing the body into a well; a 2018 case at Thorala police station involving the alleged abduction, sexual assault and killing of a three-year-old girl; and a 2018 case at Kuwadva Road police station involving the alleged robbery and killing of a 70-year-old woman.

The 2018 child rape-murder case is particularly relevant to the present investigation.

Vaidhukiya was reportedly sentenced to death by a sessions court in 2020, but the Gujarat High Court acquitted him in February 2026, observing that the prosecution case was based on circumstantial evidence and that there were gaps in the chain of evidence.

Police said further legal proceedings against Vaidhukiya are under way.

IANS