Pune rape case: ‘Will come again’ — perpetrator leaves ‘threat’ in selfie taken while victim was unconscious

A senior police officer probing the case said, “One of the most shocking aspects of the case is the threat message on the victim’s phone. This message has been written in the form of a text on the selfie that the suspect has taken on his phone. This selfie has been taken when the victim was unconscious. Probe suggests that the photo taken has been edited to write the text on it.” While the officer refused to share exact details of the text, he said it was on the lines of “Don’t leak. Or else I will make viral your photos”. The text goes on to say “I will come again”.

“We can infer from the message that the perpetrator has also taken photos of the victim, which he threatened to release (online) if she reports the incident or shares that selfie with anyone,” the officer added.

Another officer who is part of the probe said, “The selfie taken on the victim’s phone captures a small part of one side of the accused’s face. We are working on that as a clue. A composite sketch of the accused is is being prepared based on the description given by the victim. As part of the probe, we will be examining her phone. Some of teams who are part of the investigation are looking into a bulk of technical data. This includes footage of the CCTV cameras installed in the residential society and those on the approach roads to it. Also the data of the phones that cell towers connected with at the time of the crime. And also the data from the computer based system that is used for the management of entry at the society. We also can not rule out the possibility of the suspect having kept a watch of the victim’s movement.”

Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said the investigation of the case is being conducted on a war footing and a total of 10 teams of the crime branch and around 12 from the local police station and zonal police unit have been pressed into action for the investigation. The police have registered a case under sections 64 (Rape), 77 (voyeurism) which is primarily for the selfie and photos allegedly taken of the vicitm, and 351-2 (Criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).