A 19-year-old student of Symbiosis College was allegedly raped on Wednesday evening by a thief on Hanuman Tekri hill at Senapati Bapat road. Police have arrested the accused in case.
The survivor is a first year student and was residing in a rented accommodation on Senapati Bapat road near her college since July 2015. The incident occurred on Wednesday evening and was reported to the police on Thursday night.
According to the information provided by the police, the girl used to go to the college gym every evening between 5 and 6:30 pm, after which she used to go to Hanuman Tekri hill for reading a book. On Wednesday evening, while she was reading a book sitting next to an under-construction structure on the hill, she was attacked from behind by the accused who grabbed her mouth and sexually assaulted her.
He snatched her purse and dragged her some 10-12 feet on the ground and forced himself on her. The girl struggled with him to stop further advances. While he was trying to take off her clothes, he saw two people approaching in his direction and ran away from the spot taking away the mobile and purse of the survivor.
Girl immediately rushed from the spot and reported the incident to her roommate next day in college. She informed her parents as well, who asked her to register a police complaint. Next day, she reported the incident to her college authorities and registered a complaint against the accused at the Chaturshringi police station.
Police arrested the accused on Friday, who has since been identified as Vijay Kamble,21, a resident of Pandavnagar, Wadarwadi with a criminal record to his name.
Basavraj Teli, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-3, whose team arrested Kamble said "Kamble is a property offender and has two cases of robbery against him at Deccan police station. A preventive action also has been taken against him in the past. He initially approached her with the intention to rob her but after finding her alone, he sexually abused her."
"We have also issued orders to keep vigil of places such as Hanuman Tekri which are are often visited by people but can be unsafe in dark hours," added Teli.
(Police in the area)
The hill where the incident occurred is a regular place for visitors. It is visited by residents for morning and evening walks as well as by couples during day time. A regular visitor of Hanuman Tekri said that the place doesn't have lights and becomes a den for drunkards after it gets dark.
Vidya Yerwadekar, Principal director of symbiosis society said "It was really an unfortunate and sad incident. It’s hard to believe that such an incident can occur at a place like Hanuman Tekri which is visited by people all the time. It is not a secluded place and is surrounded by four colleges of the city. Unfortunately when this incident took place, nobody was there. However, we have informed directors of all our institutes to talk directly to students and ask them to follow safety measures when they are on their own."
A friend of the survivor said that she was going to the hill for the past one week to spend some quiet time and added that they had also gone there as a group in the past.
"She informed us about the incident on Thursday morning and was shocked, but she kept her cool and was determined to lodge the complaint so that culprit should get arrested and would not attack any other girl. Her parents are also on their way to Pune."
According to college authorities, girl is admitted in the government hospital and is under observation for next 24 hours.
Police have booked Kamble under section 376 and 390 of Indian penal code and will produce him in Shivaji nagar court on Saturday.