According to police on Wednesday, a 26-year-old woman was allegedly raped inside a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) Shivshahi bus that was parked at the Swargate bus stop. According to police on Wednesday, a 26-year-old woman was allegedly raped inside an MSRTC Shivshahi bus that was parked at the Swargate bus stop. Around six in the morning on Tuesday, the incident took place in the otherwise packed Swargate State Transport (ST) bus stop. Police have identified the accused as Dattatray Ramdas Gade, 36, of Shirur, who has a criminal record, after analyzing CCTV footage. To capture the suspect, eight teams of police have been assembled.
The survivor, a counsellor at a Pune hospital, had arrived at the ST stand to catch a bus to her hometown of Phaltan in the Satara district, the police said. The accused, who was pretending to be a bus conductor, came up to her while she was sitting on a bench and asked where she was going. When he found out she was going to Phaltan, he told her the bus was somewhere else and offered to help her get on it.
He guided her to an MSRTC-operated luxury Shivshahi bus with registration number MH06 BW0319. When she saw that the bus was dark, he reassured her that everyone was asleep and asked her to check inside using her cell phone torch. She got on the bus because she trusted him, and he allegedly closed the door, sexually assaulted her, and then ran away.
“The survivor later boarded another bus to her village,” stated Smartana Patil, deputy commissioner of police. Unsure of what to do, she described the incident to a friend over the phone. After returning from Hadapsar, she went to the police to lodge a complaint, as advised by her friend.
