A female teenager aged 17 who was in a car was reportedly sexually assaulted and three other women passengers of gold jewellery robbed by two unidentified men on a motorbike on a highway in Maharashtra's Pune district, police stated. The crime was committed at around 4.15 am on Monday near Bhigwan on the highway in Daund area when the car in which the victims were passengers stopped after the driver felt like responding to nature's call, a police official added.
Seven people were in the vehicle— the driver, who was 70 years old, three women, two 17-year-old boys and a 17-year-old girl. They were from two different families of a village in Pune district's Junnar tehsil and were on their way to Pandharpur temple town in nearby Solapur district, he added.
"As the driver was drowsy, he stopped the car in front of a tea stall. After the driver alighted to attend nature's call, two unknown men came up to the car and intimidated the occupants with sharp objects and stole gold ornaments. One of the accused also took the minor girl from the car and committed rape on her," the official added.
The two then escaped the scene on their motorcycle, following which the shaken car passengers mustered courage and reported the matter to police, he added.
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The 73-year-old tea stall owner who had witnessed the incident but owing to his age was unable to give all the particulars, the official said.
"A case has been lodged under the concerned sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Eight teams have been constituted to track and apprehend the accused," Pune (Rural) Superintendent of Police Sandip Singh Gill said.
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