A 19-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two persons inside a stationary bus at Kharghar on the night of February 3. The police made an arrest on Monday. However, the second accused, who is the driver of that bus, is still at large.
Police said that both the accused and the victim stayed in the same building and they knew each other.
“The accused had offered the victim a spiked drink during a pre-wedding celebration (Haldi) was going on in the building that night,” said Vivek Bhoir, an assistant police inspector from Kharghar police station.
Bhoir said, “During the celebration, the victim felt thirsty and was looking for water. Taking benefit, the accused called her aside and offered soft-drink. Since they know each other as they stayed in the same building, the victim did not suspect and had the soft drink offered by them.”
The second accused, a bus driver, had parked the bus in a secluded area nearby. “The victim started feeling uneasy after some time. They again offered the sane drink and when she felt unconscious, they took her in the bus, already parked,” said the police official. He added that after committing the crime, they took her mobile and fled.
However, after some time, when she regained her consciousness, she shouted for help.
A few people who spotted her took her to the police station and she narrated the incident. Following her complaint, the police registered a case relevant section of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and started searching them.
On January 8, one of the first accused, a 19-year-old college student was arrested. “We are now looking for the bus driver,” Bhoir said. The police did not disclose the name of the arrested accused as that might hamper their investigations.