E-Paper
Minor’s gang-rape: Chargesheet against 19 people in Pune sessions court
A 500-page chargesheet has been registered against 19 people in a sessions court in Pune by the Pune police, in the case of the gang-rape of a 14-year-old girl in Wanowrie
PUNE A 500-page chargesheet has been registered against 19 people in a sessions court in Pune by the Pune police, in the case of the gang-rape of a 14-year-old girl in Wanowrie. Additionally, a special public prosecutor has been appointed in the case and is awaiting approval for trial in the fast-track court for child sexual abuse cases.
The chargesheet was registered on October 30 in the court of additional sessions judge S P Ponkshe by sub-inspector Sudha Choudhury who is investigating the case.
Advocate Pravin Chavan has been named as the special public prosecutor in the case. He is also serving as the SPP in the DS Kulkarni cheating and MPID case.
“The two lodge managers among the 19 arrested have been granted bail. Rest are all in judicial custody. Of them, 16 have been named for sexual assault and the guy with whom she was travelling to Chandigarh was charged for kidnapping of the minor girl,” said PSI Choudhury.
The chargesheet was registered under Sections 363, 376, 377, 363, 120(b) and other relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code along with relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. The case was registered at Wanowrie police station of Pune police.
While most of the accused are rickshaw drivers, two are railway employees, two are lodge workers, and one is a native of Bihar who worked in Chandigarh.
One of the accused first kidnapped the girl from Pune railway station on August 31 under the pretext of dropping her home. The girl was at the railway station to meet a man from Chandigarh who did not show up.
The rickshaw driver and at least 13 others took her to six locations in two days and assaulted her. The girl, in her supplementary statement, told the police that one of them recorded the crime and shared the video with others.
After being captive and without a phone for two days and two nights, the girl was given her phone on September 2 and made to board a train to Mumbai. One of the accused men is a railway employee who arranged the train ticket. She was allegedly threatened to not return to Pune.
In Mumbai, she called the friend from Chandigarh and he offered to take her back with him to Chandigarh. The police alerted the railway staff and they were caught before reaching Chandigarh and returned to Pune.
