Guard held for MNC employee’s rape

More than a month after a woman from Mumbai working with a multinational firm was raped in a private township at Lonavla, a security guard has been arrested.

More than a month after a woman from Mumbai working with a multinational firm was raped in a private township at Lonavla, a security guard has been arrested.

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On Friday, the Pune (Rural) police arrested the 22-year-old accused, who is employed by Frontline agency to which Aamby Valley outsources its security services, after the 29-year-old victim identified his voice.

The Hindustan Times has decided not to print the company’s name to avoid revealing the victim's identity.

The incident took place on December 10, 2010, when the victim was attending two-day conference organised by her firm at Aamby Valley, around 60 km from Pune.

After attending the seminar with some 270 other employees, the victim had returned to her room.

“As I was asleep with two lights on, someone entered my room and gagged me. I awoke to see that the lights were off and the room was dark,” the victim had said in her police complaint.

The woman was so traumatised that it took her two days to register a complaint, that too only after counselling.

The first information report (FIR) said the victim alleged that she was raped at knifepoint. Her medical report confirmed rape.

“According to the victim, the accused spoke in Hindi. During investigations, we recorded voice samples and the victim confirmed the resemblance between the guard’s voice and that of the man who had raped her,” said superintendent of police Pratap Dighavkar.

The police have sent the guard’s DNA samples for tests.

Inspector Bhausaheb Andhalkar said that when the incident took place there were three security guards at the private township.

“While two of the guards were having tea in the pantry, the accused was absent,” Andhalkar said.

The Pune (Rural) police also said that the security guard had tried to commit suicide on December 24, 2010, because he was scared he would get caught.

“The man arrested by the police is an outsourced employee at Aamby Valley. He has been arrested for further investigation. We cannot comment more,” said the spokesperson from Aamby Valley.