IT professional raped inside her Pune flat by man posing as delivery agent

“The accused told the woman that some bank documents had come for her in the courier. He asked her to sign an acknowledgement and said he had forgotten his pen. When the woman went inside the apartment to get a pen, the suspect entered the flat and locked the door from the inside. He then raped her,” said Rajkumar Shinde, the Deputy Commissioner of Police.

“Based on her account, the woman was rendered unconscious after the man allegedly sprayed some substance on her. She woke up a while later, and the suspect had fled. She regained consciousness around 8:30 pm and called her local guardian. She later came to the police station with some people and registered a case. The i-Car, a specialised vehicle equipped with investigative tools, a canine squad, and a forensic experts’ team, was roped in. The medical examination of the complainant has been conducted,” DCP Shinde said.

“The entrance of visitors to the society is managed with a computer-based application. We have obtained data from the application and are analysing it. Relevant samples have been collected to ascertain which substance was sprayed to render her unconscious. The probe suggests that the suspect clicked a selfie of the woman using her phone when she was unconscious. He also left a message on her phone threatening to circulate her photos if she revealed the incident to anyone, and that he would come again if she did,” Shinde said.

An officer probing the case said the selfie captures a small part of the accused’s face. “A sketch is being prepared based on the description given by the woman. The CCTV footage from the residential society is being scrutinised for leads. We are ascertaining whether the suspect had kept a watch on her,” the officer said.

Police have filed a case under charges of rape, voyeurism and criminal intimidation. Officials said the woman approached the police station around 1:30 am on Thursday.

“The investigation is being conducted on war footing. Ten teams of the crime branch and 12 from the local police station and zonal police unit have been pressed into action. All the resources have been deployed, and we are 100 per cent sure that we will crack the case,” Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said.