Pune bus rape case: Cops file 893-page chargesheet in court (2025)

The incident took place inside a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus at the Swargate bus depot in Pune in the early hours of February 25, officials said

The Pune Police in Maharashtra on Friday said that it has filed an 893-page chargesheet in connection with the Pune bus rape case which took place in February this year, the PTI reported.

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The incident had took place inside a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus at the Swargate bus depot in Pune in the early hours of February 25, an official said on Friday, reported the PTI.

A 26-year-old woman was allegedly raped inside a parked Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation bus at the sprawling depot allegedly by a history-sheeter who was identified as Dattatray Gade, as per the police.

"In order to make our case watertight, we have included physical, biological, technical, circumstantial and scientific evidence in the chargesheet. We obtained these through the help of experts in the medical, cyber, sound and forensic fields," the official said, as per the PTI.

The 893-page chargesheet filed in the court of the judicial magistrate first class (JMFC) contains the statements of 82 witnesses, the official added.

As per the police, the victim was waiting for a bus to go to Satara when the accused approached her posing as a conductor of a bus.

On the pretext of offering help, he took her to a waiting bus that was unlit, bolted the doors and raped her inside.

Gade, who faces half a dozen criminal cases, was nabbed from an agriculture field near his native Gunat village under Shirur tehsil here with the help of drones and sniffer dogs.

Thane civic official acquitted in sexual harassment case due to lack of witness support

Meanwhile, a special POCSO court has acquitted a civic official from Maharashtra's Thane district in a sexual harassment case after the complainants, a woman and her minor daughter, failed to support their allegations, as per the PTI.

In his order of April 16, a copy of which was made available on Friday, Special Judge D S Deshmukh held that the prosecution witnesses had not supported their case.

According to the prosecution, a 51-year-old sanitary inspector with the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC), allegedly made sexual advances towards a female sweeper and her teenage daughter in 2022 under the pretext of giving the woman's husband a job, according to the PTI.

He was subsequently booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the Indian Penal Code.

However, the complainant and her daughter failed to support the allegations during the trial.

In his judgment, the judge said the prosecution witnesses instead admitted that the accused had not committed any act against the complainants and concluded that charges against the accused could not be proved.

(with PTI inputs)

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