Incident occurred on Wednesday evening at Hanuman Tekdi in Pune while the collegain was on her evening walk; accused was arrested on Friday from crime scene while trying to sell the girl's cellphone

Pune: A routine evening walk at a tekdi (hillock) behind her college ended up into a tragedy for an 18-year-old after she was robbed and raped by a druggie on Wednesday evening. But the incident came to light on Thursday after the survivor visited the Chaturshringi police station with her friend and lodged a complaint against the unidentified man.



Chaturshringi cops survey the spot at Hauman Tekdi where Vijay Kamble (below) raped the girl on Wednesday evening

Acting on her complaint, police officials swung into action and picked up eight youths and finally arrested the culprit last evening. The accused was identified as Vijay Kumar Kamble (21), a resident of Pandav temple area in Wadarwadi. Kamble was booked under sections 376 (rape) and 380 (thief) of the Indian Penal Code and will be produced in the court today.

A police officer said the survivor hails from West Bengal and had come to Pune last July to pursue higher studies. A first-year student of BSc (Economics), she resides in a rented apartment with her classmate. She is currently undergoing treatment at the Sassoon General Hospital.

Cop speak

Inspector Arun Sawant, in-charge of Chaturshringi police station, said, “She attends college from 8 am and 2 pm. After lunch, she exercises at the campus gym from 4.30 pm to 6 pm. She then visits Hanuman tekdi to meditate, followed by a reading session at the pagoda. In the past, we had informed college authorities to ask students to avoid visiting such secluded spots, as there are chances of getting mugged or other untoward incidents.”

He added that the incident took place on Wednesday around 7 pm when the survivor was reading. “Someone hugged her from behind and then gagged. Later, he asked her hand over all the money she had. After the girl gave her bag, the accused dragged her for about 20-feet towards an isolated spot and raped her. When she tried to scream, he once again gagged her. Upon hearing footsteps approaching in their direction, the accused fled the spot with her bag containing a cellphone, an ATM card, shoes and headphones.”

Sawant said a duo, which had come for its evening walk spotted the girl. But she informed them only about the robbery. “Despite chasing Kamble, he managed to escape. Later, the girl went home and informed her roommate, who then informed her parents. It was the girl’s her father who suggested they lodge a police complaint. Based on the girl’s description of the accused — a man in his early 20s, wearing a white-coloured shirt and trousers — we detained eight for their past involvement in mischievous activities on the tekdi.”

Investigating officer PSI S B Patil said investigation lead them to Kamble, a history-sheeter.

She added, “He has a record of targeting people at the tekdi. He was missing when we went to his residence for questioning. We got a tip-off that he was trying to sell the girl’s handset at the same tekdi. We immediately laid a trap and nabbed him. Investigation revealed that a robbery case has been registered against him at Deccan Gymkhana police station in 2015.”