2 held for alleged gang-rape of 19-yr-old woman at knifepoint in Shirur

The Shirur police have arrested two men for allegedly raping a 19-year-old woman at knifepoint in a village in Shirur on March 1, said officials on Monday.

The police have identified the arrested as Amol Narayan Pote, 25, from Shrigonda in Ahilyanagar district, and Kishor Rambhau Kale, 29, of Dharur in Beed district.

Mahadev Waghmode, incharge, Ranjangaon Police Station, said, “The survivor and her cousin were talking at a distance from her home on Saturday when the accused arrived there on a two-wheeler around 11 pm. They threatened the duo with a sharp knife and forced them to perform sexual acts which they recorded on their mobile phone. The accused later gang-raped the woman, looted her gold chain worth ₹10,000 and escaped under the cover of darkness.”

According to the police, the survivor and her cousin went home where she narrated the ordeal to the sister. Her sister’s husband alerted the police about the crime. After receiving information about the incident, a team from the area police station rushed to the crime scene. Pankaj Deshmukh, superintendent of police, Pune Rural, also visited the spot. The First Information Report (FIR) in the case was registered on March 2.

The police said they arrested Kale, who works as a driver, and Pote, a labourer, within two hours after the rape was reported.

The police team produced them before a competent court in Shirur on Sunday morning which remanded them in police custody till March 7.

Deshmukh said, “Further investigation is on in the case.”