The defense counsel for Dattatray Ramdas Gade, the accused in the Pune bus rape case, argued that the victim could have sought help during the incident and claimed the act was consensual. Gade, who was previously charged with robbery, was arrested after evading the police.
Defending the accused, advocate Wajid Khan stated, “It was 5:45 AM when the incident took place. She could have shouted and sought help. Nothing was done forcefully.” Meanwhile, another defense lawyer, advocate Sajid Shah, told the court, “Whatever happened was with mutual consent.”
Regarding Gade’s criminal history, the defense counsel clarified, “The previous cases against him were for robbery, not rape. The investigating officer may have labeled him a habitual offender, but he was never convicted in any of those cases.”
Gade, who had been absconding since the alleged assault on Tuesday, was detained by a Pune Crime Branch team from a village in Shirur Tehsil and was formally arrested on Friday. A Pune court has remanded him to 12 days of police custody, extending until March 12.
The survivor, a working woman, had been waiting for a bus to return home to Phaltan, about 100 km away when Gade allegedly misled her by claiming her bus was parked elsewhere. He then guided her to an MSRTC Shivshahi bus in the depot, where he reportedly raped her.
Following the incident, Maharashtra State Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik has ordered an immediate security audit of all bus stands and depots across the state. As per an official statement issued on Thursday, all registered buses parked at depots and vehicles seized by transport offices must be cleared by April 15.
Highlighting the rising number of female passengers, Minister Sarnaik also stressed the need to increase the number of female security guards at bus stations to enhance passenger safety.