After the victim of the January 21 incident filed a police complaint on Thursday, the police rued that had the case been brought to their notice earlier then the February 2 rape could have been averted.

The earlier gangrape incident came to light three days ago, following a tip-off as well as two witnesses, a teacher and a tea vendor, agreeing to give statement to the police about it. Bharuch Superintendent of Police S M Khatri said, "The girl (who was raped on January 21), like many others, refused to file a complaint fearing insult. We convinced them that her identity would not be revealed and she assented."

The gang's modus operandi in both the cases was similar and occurred in desolate forest tracts, near a canal in Jhagadia, which was frequented by young couples. Jhagadia Police Inspector D D Damor said the gang would stalk couples who went to the canal for trysts. "In both cases, they followed couples and then pounced on them. The boy was beaten and tied up, while the gang would rape the girl. Following these incidents, couples have stopped going near the canal," Damor said.

Khatri said such cases are easier to solve if the police are notified immediately. "The police lose out on medical evidence in such cases when reported late and have to rely on forensic and circumstantial evidence. If informed earlier, the prosecution is far stronger," he added.

Profile of eight accused victims
The eight accused in the two cases not only belong to the same village, but all reside in the same street, now disparagingly called, 'Badnaam galiyan' (infamous street). Most of them are aged between 18 and 22 years, and four are married with children. The accused are Pankaj (24) and Prakash Vasava (21), both are brothers and married, Mukesh Vasava (30) and Ajay Vasava (25) are married, Sanjay Vasava (18), Nitin Vasava (20), Yogesh Vasava (20), Prakash Vasava (21) . The Bharuch police said all the accused were daily wage labourers, lived with their families and were known anti-social elements in the area. They further said that three of the accused have also served sentences earlier for bootlegging.