Maharashtra news: 21-year-old woman allegedly gang raped in Pune’s Bopdev Ghat; Sharad Pawar says ‘there is a lot of…’

Maharashtra news: A 21-year-old woman and her friend were allegedly assaulted in Pune's Bopdev Ghat area on October 3, as reported by ANI. The police received the complaint at 5:00 AM on October 4, which falls under the jurisdiction of Kondhwa Police Station. 

The woman and her friend had visited the Ghat area on Thursday night with her friend, where she was allegedly raped by three unknown men around 11:00 pm.

Charging the Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) chief Sharad Pawar asserted that, on the one hand, there is an attempt to provide financial assistance to women through the Ladki Behan Yojana and on the other hand, there is a lot of anger among the people due to the increasing atrocities on women.

Criticising the state home department for not taking any action to prevent such incidents, NCP-SCP working president Supriya Sule, in a post on X, said it was a “very infuriating” incident. She alleged, “Maharashtra is not safe for women”, and questioned the safety of women in Pune and across the state.

The woman had gone to the locality with a male friend, according to the Kondhwa police. A Kondhwa police official informed newswire PTI that the trio also assaulted the woman’s male friend at an isolated place. 

Meanwhile, Pune police have formed ten Crime Branch and Detective Branch teams to trace and arrest the perpetrators involved in the incident, Pune Joint Commissioner of Police Ranjan Kumar Sharma said.

“As per preliminary details, the woman and her male friend had gone to the Bopdev Ghar area on Thursday late night where three unknown people allegedly raped her,” PTI quoted a senior official from Pune police as saying.

Describing the incident, Joint CP Pune City Police Ranjan Kumar Sharma said, “While she was with friends, three unknown people came to them and beat them." He added, “Friends were tied with a cloth while the accused were raping the girl.”

The gang rape survivor is reportedly admitted to a hospital and is undergoing treatment. Ranjan Kumar said Pune Police is set to record the victim's statement at some point as she has gained consciousness.

Shiv Sena (UBT) spokesperson Anand Dubey targeted Home Minister Amit Shah and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and alleged that they are “not paying any attention to law and order. The criminals have no fear of the law, and the government is careless." He added, “The criminals are roaming around fearlessly, that too on the holy festival of Navratri.”

(With agency inputs)