Just few months after a girl was gang-raped at Bopdev Ghat in Pune, another girl was raped in a stationary bus parked at the MSRTC bus stand at Swargate, a stone's throw distance from the Swargate police station in Pune.

This heinous crime, just two days after Pune Police Commissioner stated that the city police are successful in managing crime, has raised several questions about the safety of women in Pune. This is not a singular case; crimes against women are rising in Pune day by day. What was once considered a safe city for women, Pune is now gaining a reputation for being an unsafe place for women.

Are Girls Safe In Pune?

There have been several incidents in the past few months. For example, a woman with children was punched in the face while commuting on a busy road in Aundh area in 2024; two young women were chased by a man who was masturbating in broad daylight while the girls were out for a walk in the city; another woman feeding strays was slapped by her neighbors and dissuaded from reporting the incident to the local police; and another woman who took a cab faced an ordeal when the cab driver masturbated while gazing at her in the rearview mirror.

The last incident occurred just 5 days ago. On February 21 at 7:30 pm, a female software engineer from a company in Kalyani Nagar booked a cab to travel. A cab came to pick her up on Sangamwadi Road. While driving, the young driver began masturbating while looking at the victim through the rearview mirror. The frightened young woman stopped the car on the highway and went straight to the police station.

The rape at the Swargate bus station has raised several questions and led to political uproar as leaders like NCP MP Supriya Sule, NCP MLA Rohit Pawar, Former Kasba MLA Ravindra Dhangekar, and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare have slammed the police and called for accountability. While Dhangekar highlighted the lack of lights and infrastructure at Swargate Station, Sule pointed out that the Swargate Police Station is very close to where the rape took place.

What do the statistics say?

This comes just two days after Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar issued a stern warning to criminals, stating that anyone entering a police station mentioning "Aaka" or "Kaka" will not be let off, as the police are determined to teach them a lesson for generations.

Recently, Pune Police presented annual crime statistics. Speaking on the occasion, CP Amitesh Kumar said there was an increase in cases of rape and molestation "due to prompt and free registration of offences relating to women." 505 cases of rape and 864 of molestation were registered in 2024, compared to 410 cases of rape and 775 of molestation in 2023.

For the safety of women, he had said a toll-free helpline '1091' has been started. After calling the number, a beat marshal and a Damini marshal from the nearest police station reach the spot immediately to resolve the issue, he said. There is also a WhatsApp number '8975953100' on which women can send their complaints, he added.

Swargate rape case details

In a shocking incident in Pune, a 26-year-old woman was raped inside a stationary Shivshahi bus at the busy Swargate ST stand in the city, officials said on Wednesday. The accused has been identified as Dattatray Ramdas Gade. He has cases of theft registered against him at Shikrapur and Shirur police stations, they added.

According to the police, the victim is a counsellor at a hospital and resides in the Aundh-Baner area. On Tuesday, around 6am, when she was waiting for a bus to Phaltan at one of the platforms, the accused approached her and said the bus had arrived at another platform.

"Trusting the accused, the victim followed him to an empty bus parked at a deserted and dark spot. When she questioned him that there was no one there, he said many passengers were sitting inside the bus. When she entered the bus, the accused quickly locked the bus from inside, raped her and fled from the scene. We have analysed the CCTV footage of the crime scene and identified the accused," the police said.

"The victim initially did not have the courage to file a case. However, after narrating the incident to a friend, she returned and lodged a police complaint at Swargate police station. A total of eight police teams have been deployed to find the accused. The victim has been sent for a medical examination at Sassoon General Hospital. She is stable now," they added.