A 26-year-old woman was reportedly raped within a parked state transport bus at Swargate Bus Stand in Pune early on Tuesday morning, only a few meters from a police station.
The accused, Dattatraya Ramdas Gade (36), has a criminal record of theft and chain-snatching cases and is on the run. Police have constioned eight special teams as well as deployed a dog squad to trace him.
The crime was committed between 5:45 am and 6:30 am while the woman, who is a domestic worker, waited for a bus to her native village of Phaltan in Satara district.
According to CCTV footage, Gade walked up to her, greeted her as “Didi” (sister), and misinformed her that her bus was parked elsewhere.
He then took her to an unlit Shiv Shahi AC bus, telling her that the lights were off as passengers were sleeping. Inside, he allegedly locked the door and raped her. After the rape, the woman got onto another bus where she confided in a friend.
Based on her friend’s advice, she lodged a complaint with the police, who registered a case immediately and initiated an investigation.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar denounced the incident as “extremely unfortunate, distressing, and infuriating” and demanded the death penalty for the accused.
He assured that Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had directed police to take swift action. The opposition has severely criticized the BJP government, accusing it of not being able to check increasing crimes against women.
Maharashtra Congress party president Harshwardhan Sapkal likened the incident to the 2012 Nirbhaya case, and NCP MP Supriya Sule condemned the police for letting a crime of such magnitude take place in a zone under high security. Shiv Sena (UBT) volunteers held a demonstration outside the Swargate Bus Stand, protesting by damaging the MSRTC security office.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) has taken suo motu cognizance of the matter, calling for an immediate investigation and immediate psychological and medical assistance to the victim. The commission also asked authorities to provide tough legal proceedings under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
The incident has also led to public outrage at the safety of women in public places. The Swargate Bus Stand, which is one of Maharashtra’s busiest transport terminals, has thousands of people passing through daily, and yet a security failure facilitated the crime going unnoticed. The authorities said that the management of the bus depot will also be interrogated.
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