Pune SHOCKER: Man rapes woman inside Maharashtra state transport bus at Swargate, police reveal what happened

A man allegedly raped a 26-year-old woman inside a state transport bus at the busy Swargate bus stand in Pune, police said on Wednesday. The incident reportedly happened on Tuesday morning.

Swargate is one of the largest bus junctions of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).

Pune police registered a case against the man named Dattatray Ramdas Gade. "The accused is on the run. Teams have been constituted to nab the accused," DCP Smartana Patil, Pune City police, said.

The accused, identified as Datta Gade, had cases of theft and chain snatching registered against him, a Swargate police station official told news agency PTI.

What happened exactly?

DCP Smartana Patil said on Wednesday that a working woman was heading to her village and "was waiting for a bus to go back to her home around 5:30, 6:30 [am]".

"A man came and said that the bus to her place had been parked somewhere else and took the woman near the parked bus," police said.

When the woman said there was no light inside the bus, the man convinced her to go inside by saying that she could use a torch and check if the passengers were sitting inside or not.

"When the woman entered the bus, the man shut the bolt and raped the woman...," police said.

Patil said that after the incident, the women took another bus to her village when her friend asked her to go to police and file a complaint about the incident.

She added that a complaint was registered against the accused. "We have identified the accused, and we are making all the efforts to nab him. The accused is identified as Dattatray Ramdas Gade. The victim is stable right now...," the DCP said.

"We registered a complaint at the police station after which we immediately started the investigation. The culprit has not been arrested yet but his identification has been done...The girl is stable now mentally and physically," Smartana Patil said.

Maharashtra minister reacts

Maharashtra Minister Girish Mahajan said the government is taking this matter very seriously. “The incident, where a girl was assaulted inside a bus, is extremely concerning. The government has taken this issue very seriously... The Chief Minister has ordered strict action,” he said.