Gained Victim’s Confidence By Calling Her ‘Didi’: Pune Bus Rape Accused Sent To Police Custody Till March 12

Dattatray Ramdas Gade, a history-sheeter, has half a dozen criminal cases against him, women are complainants in five of them.

Accused arrested for the alleged sexual assault of a woman inside a parked state transport bus at Swargate terminus, being produced at a court, in Pune.

Source : PTI

A man accused of raping a woman in an empty parked state bus in Pune city was sent to police custody till March 12 by a court. This comes after the police submitted a remand application to the court and sought Gade's custody for 14 days.

The accused, Dattatray Ramdas Gade, was caught in a paddy field after an extensive search operation with the help of drones and sniffer dogs around midnight on Thursday in Shirur tehsil of the Pune district. His family had informed the police about the accused's presence in the area, after which the police team resumed the search.

He was brought to Pune city around 2 am. He was sent for medical examination, following which he was formally arrested and produced before the Pune Sessions Court amid heavy police security.

Gade, a history-sheeter, have half a dozen criminal cases against him. He had fled to his native village in Shirur after allegedly sexually assaulting the woman, who works in the health sector.

Called The Victim 'Didi' To Gain Her Confidence 

According to a PTI report, the police told the court that the accused first engaged in conversation with the 26-year-old victim at the Swargate terminus on Tuesday morning. He gained her confidence after he repeatedly called her ‘didi’ (sister). He then took her to an empty 'Shiv Shahi' bus parked in the depot premises and raped her.

According to the police, Gade, who has half a dozen criminal cases against him in Pune and Ahilyanagar districts, is clearly visible in the CCTV footage from the bus terminus on the day of the incident, reported PTI.

The data of the mobile phone he was using was yet to be recovered, they informed the court and added that out of the half a dozen cases registered against Gade, women are complainants in five of them.

However, advocate Wajid Khan, representing the accused, argued in court that his client was being subjected to a media trial and claimed that the complainant had voluntarily entered the bus.

"A physical relationship was established between them with mutual consent," Khan stated. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court remanded Gade to police custody until March 12.