Pune: A 26-year-old woman was raped by a man inside the Shivshahi bus of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) at the Swargate bus stand here on Monday morning, police said.
A senior police official said that the accused has been identified and eight teams have been dispatched to apprehend him. Swargate is one of the three major bus stands in Pune, the other two being Pune Railway Station and Shivajinagar (Wakdewadi).
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Zone 2 Smartana Patil told reporters, "The victim was working in Pune and she was going to her native village. The incident took place around 5.30 am. She was waiting for a bus at the Swargate Bus Stand. At that time, the accused had gone and he can be seen in the CCTV footage."
"The accused spoke to the victim and asked her where she was going. The victim answered that she was on her way to Phaltan (in the Satara district). The accused told the victim that the bus for Satara does not come here. The victim insisted that the bus came at that particular location only. The accused said that a bus was standing at a different spot and he said he would take her. She went with the accused to a bus and since there was darkness in the bus, she questioned about it. The accused asked the victim to on her mobile torch and see the passengers in the bus. When the victim climbed inside the bus, the accused locked the bus inside it and raped her," the DCP said.
The victim then lodged a complaint at the Swargate Police Station after she informed her friend about her ordeal, the senior police official added. Patil said that the accused is a resident of Shirur and has been earlier booked under section 392 of the IPC.
When asked whose fault was it, the DCP gave a cautious reply, saying, "Police do patrolling but they cannot check every bus. This bus was parked inside the bus stand and so questions arise about the internal security of the bus depot."
"The second thing is that the victim took another bus and proceeded to her destination. Had she raised an alarm, people at the bus stand could have come to her rescue. But none of such thing has happened," Patil added. The DCP said that efforts are on to nab the accused. "We have secured the bus and our priority is to nab the accused," she added.
Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) leader Sushma Andhare hit out at the Maharashtra government over the incident, which has sparked an outrage.
"The incident is very shocking. There is a lot of change in Pune now as compared to 15 years ago. There was an assurance earlier that we would safely reach home, but now the law and order situation in Pune has collapsed. We are demanding that patrolling should increase in areas where there are colleges, schools and bus stands. But nobody has responded so far. The District Guardian Minister (Ajit Pawar) should look into it. The District Guardian Minister should ask Pune Police about what they are doing," Andhare said.
NCP (SP) MP from Baramati Supriya Sule demanded that the case should be heard in a fast-track court. In a post on X, Sule said, "The act is the one which makes you extremely angry. In a crowded area like the Swargate Bus Stand, an incident where a woman has been raped, has come to light. There is a police station just near Swargate Bus Stand. And police patrolling keeps happening. Still, the accused dares to commit such a crime, this shows that there is no fear of law left. It raises a question of whether there is no safe place for women in this state (Maharashtra)."
"There are major crimes happening in Pune and the home ministry has failed to stop it. This incident shows how the law and order situation has collapsed. The accused must get the strictest punishment and we demand that the trial should be held in a fast-track court," added Sule, daughter of NCP (SP) supremo Sharad Pawar.
NCP (SP) leader and MLA Rohit Pawar urged the Maharashtra government to take necessary steps to ensure that such an incident is not repeated.
