Pune: Ugandan gang-raped by two while she was returning home

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A 28-year-old foreign national visiting Pune on a tourist visa was allegedly kidnapped by two men who took her to an isolated place and gang-raped her. The incident took place on Monday night between 10 pm and 2 am. The survivor, a businesswoman, had come to the city from Uganda and has lodged a First Information Report (FIR) at the Vimantal police station against two unidentified people who were allegedly on a white-coloured bike.

The survivor is undergoing treatment at Pune's Sassoon General Hospital in the intensive care unit. She was staying in Kondhwa with her sister, while on a tourist visa to India since August.

"She was taken to the Vimantal police station from the police station of the jurisdiction since there was no female officer present at the latter. We also faced language and communication issues while dealing with the police administration. But they were helpful towards us," the woman's friend told mid-day.

Pune city commissioner Dr K Venkatesham said, "Our team is investigating the matter. Women police officers from nearby police stations helped her."

Senior Inspector Gajanan Pawar said, "On Monday, around 7.30 pm, she had stepped out alone to have dinner at Mundhwa's Agent Jacks hotel near Koregaon Park. When she was trying to book a cab around midnight to go back to Kondhwa, a man in his twenties approached her on a white bike and spoke to her in English about offering to drop her home."

After she agreed, the man on the bike called his friend along and the woman was made to sit between the two men on the bike. "However, the survivor had her GPS navigation on and realised that the men had taken the wrong route. She screamed for help but the men managed to take her to an isolated area near DY Patil College in Lohegaon. They slapped her and gang-raped her," the officer added.

Woman out of danger

Assistant police inspector J C Munjawar investigating the case said, "The duo was going to leave her alone at the crime spot. But some passers-by helped her."

"The woman has given us a description of the two men based on which we are investigating the crime," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 4) Pankaj Deshmukh added.

She is now "out of danger but in trauma," Dr Ajay Chandanwale, dean at Sassoon Hospital said, adding that she has sustained multiple injuries as well as "deep injuries on her knees."

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