21-year-old college girl gang-raped in Pune

In another shocker, a 21-year-old college girl was allegedly gang-raped by three persons in the desolate Bopdev Ghat area on the outskirts of Pune late on Thursday night, police said here on Friday, sparking a strong backlash by the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA). 

As per investigation, the college student, hailing from Gujarat, had gone sightseeing along with a friend on Thursday evening when they were intercepted by three unidentified persons in the dark and dimly lit area of Bopdev Ghat.

After threatening and intimidating the young couple, they assaulted the boy, stripped and tied him to a tree as the girl screamed for help and struggled to escape from their clutches.

The trio also hammered and brutalised the girl, before allegedly raping her in turns, before fleeing from the spot on their motorcycle in the early hours.

Subsequently, her friend, hailing from Jalgaon, managed to take her to the Sassoon General Hospital for treatment and the Kondhwa Police Station were informed around 5 a.m. on Friday.

"Our team rushed to the hospital to record the victim's statement, then went to the crime spot, and also registered a case in the matter. The girl's family has been informed. No arrests have been made, and we are trying to track the culprits," Senior Police Inspector Vinay Patankar told IANS.

Later on Friday, Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar visited the area, while Joint Commissioner of Police Ranjan Kumar Sharma has been supervising the investigations.

The Pune Police formed 10 teams to search for the three suspects, released sketches and sought help from the people, as enraged Punekars and MVA leaders fumed at the latest in the spate of incidents that have rocked the city.

Nationalist Congress Party (SP) President Sharad Pawar and Working President Supriya Sule, Congress' Leader of Opposition Vijay Wadettiwar and others slammed the MahaYuti over the incident, terming it as a collapse of the law-and-order situation in the state.

"On one hand, there is the 'Ladki Bahin Yojana' and on the other the continuing atrocities on women that created a lot of anger among the people," said Pawar.

"Ahead of the Assembly elections, the CM and his two Deputy CMs are engaged in branding themselves in the name of 'Ladki Bahin' scheme, and in the past two days, such incidents have emerged from Pune," Wadettiwar said.

"Unfortunately, it has to be said that Maharashtra is not safe for women… the government should trace the accused in the incident and ensure severe punishment," demanded Sule.

Locals said that a young woman who had gone for a stroll in Bopdev Ghat earlier this week had been threatened and molested by a person claiming to be a human rights activist.

The Forum for IT Employees Maharashtra said in a social media message that an IT couple was attacked on the Nande-Lawale road in Hinjewadi recently around 1 a.m., and has urged a police check-post in the vicinity.

"We request all to take note of this and avoid travelling late on this road which connects Tamini Ghat, Lawasa to the IT Park," said the cautionary, tagging the Pune Police, the DGP and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar.

The Bopdev Ghat crime came on a day when Pune was reeling from the alleged sexual assault of two six-year old girls by a school-van driver in Wanwadi area who was arrested on Thursday (October 3).