Three arrested for allegedly raping and harassing a first-year engineering student near Pune
While two of them sexually assaulted the 19-year-old in separate incidents this week, the third man is accused of stalking and sending her lewd messages.
Two students of a private engineering college in Wagholi near Pune were arrested on Friday for allegedly raping another student from the institute, while a third accused, who is not known to the duo, was arrested for harassing her. The engineering students allegedly raped the 19-year-old in separate incidents on October 18 and 19, whereas the third accused was taken into custody for stalking her and sending her lewd text messages, reported The Indian Express.
Police told The Times of India that the October 18 assault took place after Karan Shrikant Ghuge asked the first-year student to help him with his "practical submissions in the college". The two were supposed to go to the woman's rented house, which she shares with her sister, but Ghuge asked her to first come to his room to help him find a file. When she reached the place, Ghuge allegedly locked her inside and raped her. The woman told the police that she was too shocked to tell anyone about the incident.
The next day, she received a text message from Mahesh Dattatray Korde, who claimed to know about the assault and offered her help. According to the police, Korde raped her after taking her to the same building on the pretext of helping her resolve the matter. The woman lodged a complaint at Lonikand Police Station on Thursday night after she started receiving lewd text messages from Avinash Vijaykumar Shelke.
The three accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Information Technology Act. They will be presented before the Shivajinagar District Court on Saturday, according to India Today.