Nirbhaya again? Pune woman raped inside stationary bus, accused on the run

Pune: In a horrible reminder of the Nirbhaya case, a 26-year-old woman was raped inside a stationary state transport bus at Swargate bus station in Pune. Swargate is one of the largest bus depots of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).

The accused, Dattatraya Ramdas Gade (36), who is absconding, has cases of theft and chain-snatching registered against him, a Swargate police station official told PTI. He was out on bail since 2019.

As the case sparked off an outrage, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar assured strict action and called for the 'death penalty' for the accused.

It is reported that when the victim was waiting for a bus for Phaltan in Satara district at one of the platforms around 5.45 am on Tuesday, a man approached her and engaged in conversation, calling her `Didi' (sister), and said the bus for Satara had arrived at another platform. He then took her to an empty `Shiv Shahi' AC bus parked elsewhere on the sprawling station premises.

As the lights inside the bus were not on, she hesitated to get in at first, but the man convinced her that it was the right bus. He then followed her inside and raped her before fleeing, the woman told police.

Writing on X, Pawar called the incident 'extremely unfortunate, painful, infuriating and shameful to all in civilized society'. "The crime committed by the accused in this crime is unforgivable and there can be no other punishment for him than death," the NCP leader wrote .

“I assure all my brothers, sisters and mothers in Maharashtra that the state government will take all steps to ensure that the accused is arrested by the police as soon as possible and he is punished as severely as possible according to the law,” Pawar further said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Smartana Patil told the media that CCTV footage showed the woman walking towards the bus with the accused. When the incident took place, there were many people and several buses on the station premises, she said. The woman did not approach the police immediately after the incident but took another bus to her hometown and narrated the incident to her friend on the phone while travelling, the DCP said. On her friend's advice, she got down within the city limits and went to the police station, Patil said.

The DCP said cases were registered against accused Gade in the past in the Shikrapur and Shirur police station limits in Pune district. He added that police have formed eight teams to nab him.

Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik directed that all 23 private security guards employed at the bus station should be replaced. He also instructed MSRTC managing director Vivek Bhimanwar to conduct a departmental inquiry and submit a report in seven days, an official statement said. Multiple teams are looking for the accused, who is on the run, police said on Wednesday.

Nirbhaya Case
The case is a stark reminder of the infamous Nirbhaya case in which a 23-year-old woman was beaten, gang-raped, and tortured in New Delhi in 2012. The brutality of the incident shook the nation and led to widespread demonstrations and protests. I also was a catalyst for changes to the laws about violence against women.