An autorickshaw driver has been arrested in Rajkot, Gujarat, for allegedly abducting, sexually assaulting, and killing Lila Solanki, a 76-year-old woman who earned her living through begging, police said on Friday, 28 August. The accused, Ramesh Vaidhukiya, allegedly dumped the victim's body near Aji Dam on the Rajkot-Bhavnagar Highway after the assault. Investigators linked him to the crime through CCTV footage and human intelligence gathered by Aji Dam police.

How the Crime Came to Light

The case initially came to light as a suspected accidental death when Solanki's body was discovered on 21 August. A forensic post-mortem and the circumstances surrounding her death led police to reclassify it as a suspected crime. Her identity was established after police circulated details of the unidentified body in local newspapers.

Her grandson, Ajay Solanki, told police he had dropped her near Sat Hanuman Temple on Kuwadva Road at around 11 am on 19 August, where she regularly begged. When he returned at approximately 5:30 pm, she was missing. The family filed a missing-person report at Kuwadva Road police station on 20 August.

Sequence of Events on the Day

According to police, Vaidhukiya picked up Lila Solanki at around 4 pm on 19 August, telling her he would take her home. He allegedly stopped at multiple locations, assaulted her with a wooden stick, and transported her in a semi-conscious state to the Aji Dam area near Mogal Mataji Temple. Police alleged he sexually assaulted her inside the autorickshaw and continued beating her, causing her death. He then allegedly wrapped her body in cloth, dumped it on the banks of Aji Dam, and fled — reportedly in an attempt to destroy evidence.

Charges Filed

Aji Dam police registered a case against Vaidhukiya 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.

Accused's Prior Criminal Record

Police said Vaidhukiya has previously been named in three serious criminal cases. These include a 2010 murder case 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.

Notably, in the 2018 child rape-murder case, Vaidhukiya was reportedly sentenced to death by a sessions court in 2020. However, the Gujarat High Court acquitted him in February 2026, observing that the prosecution case rested on circumstantial evidence and that there were gaps in the chain of evidence. Police confirmed that further legal proceedings against Vaidhukiya are under way.

This is the third case in which Vaidhukiya has been accused of targeting vulnerable individuals — a pattern that investigators and legal observers are likely to scrutinise closely as proceedings progress.