A court remanded Dattatraya Ramdas Gade — who is accused of raping a woman at Swargate depot in Pune city — to police custody till 12 March. The police on Friday submitted before the court that the 26-year-old woman was raped twice by the accused in a government-run Shivshahi bus in the early hours of February 25.
Gade was arrested by police from his native village of Gunat in Shirur taluka of Pune district around 1.10 am on Friday, following a rigorous three-day search operation. He was placed under arrest after a medical examination at Sassoon hospital. A team that included senior police inspector Yuvraj Nandre produced Gade before a court of judicial magistrate (first class) T S Gaygole around 6.15 pm.
Police said, on the day of the incident, the victim had gone inside the bus with the accused Gade (37), as he allegedly gained her confidence by repeatedly calling her “tai” (sister). Defence lawyers claimed the accused did not rape the victim and that they had consensual physical relations.
Police submitted before the court that the victim had been waiting at Swargate bus depot to catch a bus to go to her hometown in Satara district around 5.30 am on the day of the incident. Police said Gade, who had been loitering at the bus depot, allegedly approached the victim and asked her “tai, kuthe challis tu? (sister, where are you headed?)”. As she replied, Gade allegedly told her that the bus for her hometown was parked at another location at the depot.
Police said that the accused Gade constantly calling her sister made the victim trust him, but he allegedly misled her and made her go with him to the Shivshahi bus (which commutes along the Swargate-Solapur route) in the depot.
Police said she found no lights inside the bus, but the accused told her that passengers might be sleeping and she could use a mobile phone light to see. Police said she put on the light to check the bus and found no passengers inside. So she told the accused “Dada, mala baher jau dya, mala ghari jayche ahe (Brother, let me go out of the bus, I have to go home)”.
Commuters and onlookers trying to get a glimpse of the rape accused along the media outside Lashkar police station on Friday. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
The accused then allegedly raped her twice in the bus and fled the spot, leaving the victim crying. She got off the bus and boarded another one for her hometown. On reaching Hadapsar, she spoke to a male friend over the phone. He insisted she should approach the police.
She then went to Swargate police station around 9 am and lodged a first information report (FIR) against the accused under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 64, 351 (2). Police identified the accused from clues obtained from videos captured by CCTV cameras inside Swargate bus depot and other locations.
Police told the court the accused is a history sheeter, who had been previously booked in six criminal cases. Police said in five of these cases, the victims were women. This showed the approach of the accused towards women, police said.
Police said custody of the accused was required to conduct his medical test as well as seizing his cell phone and the clothes he wore at the time of the crime. They added that they needed to investigate if he had committed similar offences in the past and if anyone else assisted him.
Assistant public prosecutor Bhagyashree Sancheti Dagale sought police custody of the accused for 14 days to probe the offence that “is of a very serious nature”.
Youth Congress members staged a protest outside Lashkar police station. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
Advocates Sajid Shah, Wajed Khan Bidkar, Ajinkya Mahadik and Sumit Pote appeared in the court on behalf of the accused. The defence lawyers argued that the accused never forced the victim and they allegedly had consensual physical relations, which cannot be called rape.
They argued that the accused was not convicted in any of the cases in the past. Advocate Sajid argued that previous cases were of robberies and thefts and none of these were crimes against women. Advocate Bidkar claimed police had detained Gade’s brother just because he resembled the accused in appearance.
Defence lawyers said police custody for two days was sufficient, but the court remanded the accused to police custody till March 12 for further investigation.
A large number of lawyers and media persons gathered in the court room for the case hearing since Friday morning. Police initially checked the possibility of producing the accused before the court through video conferencing due to security reasons, but later he was produced in a fully packed courtroom in the evening. As per the court’s instructions, cops asked the lawyers to leave the courtroom, which caused chaos for some time.
A huge police force was deployed in the court premises to prevent any law and order situation. Deputy Commissioners of police Sandeep Singh Gill and Smarthana Patil were present in the court premises to monitor the situation.
Pune bus rape case accused Dattatraya Ramdas Gade being taken to court from Lashkar police station on Friday evening. (Express photo by Arul Horizon) 
Commuters and onlookers trying to get a glimpse of the rape accused along the media outside Lashkar police station on Friday. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
Youth Congress members staged a protest outside Lashkar police station. (Express photo by Arul Horizon)
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