4 min readPuneAug 12, 2024 07:56 PM IST
First published on: Aug 12, 2024 at 07:56 PM IST
A teenage girl’s rape on a popular tekdi (hill) in Pune left the student community shocked in 2016, even as the city remained a favourite destination for students from across the country and even abroad.
The daughter of a bank officer, an 18-year-old girl hailing from Durgapur in West Bengal came to Pune in 2015. She got admission for BSc Economics at a city college. She was staying as a paying guest near her college and often visited Hanuman Tekdi, a well-known hillock, for reading books.
On February 24, 2016, when she was reading a book on the tekdi around 6.45 pm, a young man came from behind and hugged her. She tried to shout, but the man allegedly covered her mouth and snatched her bag. He then allegedly dragged her for up to 15 ft and sexually assaulted her.
As he spotted two people coming towards him, the man allegedly escaped from the spot with her belongings including cellphone, ATM card and other valuables. The girl, who was left in a state of shock, later narrated the incident to her friends, parents and teachers, before lodging a police complaint.
After an FIR was registered in this case, the Chaturshringi police booked the man who robbed and raped the girl under sections 376 and 392 of the Indian Penal Code. Within 24 hours, the police arrested the accused, identified as Vijay, who was then 21 years old and lived in the Pandav Nagar area. The police, who recovered the girl’s cellphone from Vijay, said he also had a previous criminal record.
On July 11, 2018, Additional Sessions Judge A N Sirsikar held Vijay guilty of the offences and awarded him seven years’ rigorous imprisonment. In its judgment, the court observed, “Pune city is the educational hub of the country. The victim in this case is a student who came from West Bengal for the purpose of education. It is said that Pune city is one of the safest cities for women in the country. Due to the act of the accused, the image of Pune city is tarnished. In such circumstances, it would not be proper to show leniency to the accused.”
Crimes continue on tekdis
Although the police later increased patrolling on Hanuman Tekdi and similar spots in the city between 6 pm and 9 pm daily to prevent such incidents, crimes have continued to be committed on the hills in Pune.
In December 2020, an IT professional was robbed of Rs 7,000 when he had gone to Vetal Tekdi along with his wife, daughter and sister-in-law.
On October 1, 2022, a 19-year-old BCom student from a prominent Pune college was attacked and robbed of his gold ring worth Rs 20,000 by two armed robbers on Hanuman Tekdi. A native of Akola, he had gone to the tekdi with his two friends including a girl.
In December 2022, a 19-year-old BBA student was stabbed to death by three men on Vetal Tekdi. The police said the victim, Sahil Kasbe, had gone to the tekdi with a female friend and that three men attacked him with a knife for allegedly talking to the girl.
The victim, a Dalit woman, was employed by the hospital 10 months ago. (Representational Image) 
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