Arrested Pune IAS officer ‘raped’ one of the minor for 3 years: Police

Police claimed that the officer ‘raped’ the 13-year-old girl since she was in class IV.

Police claimed Sawant molested three other girls — two who are eight years old and one who is 10 years old and studied in the same municipal school.

Pune Police have claimed that senior IAS officer and Director General Maharashtra Council for Agriculture Education and Research (MCEAR) M H Sawant — he has been removed from his post — arrested on Thursday for allegedly committing sexual offences against four minor girls, had ‘raped’ one of the minor girls for over three years.

Police claimed that the 59-year-old IAS officer ‘raped’ the 13-year-old girl – who is now a student of class VII — since she was in class IV. Police claimed Sawant molested three other girls — two who are eight years old and one who is 10 years old and studied in the same municipal school.

Sawant has been booked under Sections 376, 354 (B), 506 of the Indian Penal Code sections 4,6,8 and 10 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012; Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities Act 1989 and several sections of the Information Technology Act.

[related-post]

Police, seeking 14-day remand of Sawant, informed special judge Mangala Dhote that the accused who stays with his family at his house in Patrakar Nagar close to the MCEAR headquarters owned an apartment in Hingane Khurd village. Sawant used to visit the flat for one or two days a week and stayed alone “to relax and study”. The victims studied at a municipal school close to the apartment building.

“Sawant used to lure girl students into the basement by offering them snacks, chocolates and committed the crime. We recovered numerous liquor bottles from the apartment and the victims told the headmistress that he used to be drunk when he assaulted them,” said Milind Mohite, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Swargate Division, told judge Dhote.

Police said the incident had come to light last week when, during an annual counselling session, one of the girls informed the woman counsellor about “inappropriate behaviour” by Sawant. The counsellor made enquiries with other girls and learnt that Sawant had sexually assaulted four minor girls. The counsellor informed the principal of the school, who in turn registered a first information report.

“Of the four girls, one was raped by Sawant for over three years. This girl is 13 years old now and is studying in Class VII at the municipal school. She told the principal that Sawant has been assaulting her since she was studying in class IV,” said Mohite.

Story continues below this ad

Police claimed that Sawant used to show the girls obscene videos on his cellphone.

Defence lawyers Deepak Girme and Sopanrao Mane argued that there had been ‘inordinate delay’ in reporting the alleged incidents and that there was a possibility of the girls being ‘tutored’ by someone to frame Sawant.

Click here to join Express Pune WhatsApp channel and get a curated list of our stories