Rape and murder: find the culprit or resign, Patels tell Kundaria

A 19-year-old mentally unstable Patel girl was allegedly raped and murdered at Sajjanpar by an unidentified person.

The girl8217;s body was found from the outskirts of the village. The inability of the police to find and arrest the culprit even 20 days after the incident, has irked the local Patel community.

Agitating under the banner of the Umiya Sena, the Patels have demanded either the arrest of the culprit or the resignation of Kundaria.

Kundaria has been the MLA of Paddhari-Tankara for four consecutive terms.

The Patels from the area assembled at Tankara on Monday and gave a 48-hour ultimatum to Kundaria.

Dhiru Bhimani, a leader of Umiya Sena, said: 8220;The people of Tankara would want Kundaria to resign as the police have failed to arrest the culprit of a crime of such a heinous nature even after 20 days. It8217;s a case of utter inaction on the part of the local administration.8221;

Addressing a gathering of over 1,000 people at Takara, Bhimani said: 8220;We have given a 48-hour ultimatum. The agitation will be intensified if the culprit is not arrested by then.8221;

The agitation has refreshed the memory of the Chandni rape and murder case. A minor Koli girl from Rajkot was raped and murdered at the Datar Hill in Junagadh in 2007.

The incident had led a widespread protest by the Kolis against the Narendra Modi government and had created a division among the Koli leaders of the region on party lines.