While the horrific rape case inside a Shivshahi bus parked at the Swargate depot is still fresh in the minds of the people, another shocking incident has occurred in the state-transport bus.
According to reports, a 24-year-old woman was molested on the Pune-Sangli Shivshahi bus while she was travelling late at night on Thursday. “When the bus was between Ashta bus station and Sangli, the accused, identified as Vaibhav Vasant Kamble (34), who was sitting behind the victim, repeatedly touched the victim from near the window and between the seats. He also made obscene gestures towards her. When the bus reached Sangli station, the woman told the bus driver and passengers about the incident. She immediately dialed 112 and a police team arrived at the spot, detaining the accused. Later, the woman lodged a formal complaint and Kamble was arrested by the police,” the reports added.
The police said, “The woman is from a village in Shirol taluka of Kolhapur district and lives in Pune for work. She was travelling from Swargate to Sangli in a Shivshahi bus to visit her village. Kamble boarded the bus near Islampur. He was sitting in the seat behind the woman. Around 11pm, Kamble repeatedly touched the victim. The victim was scared as it was night time. When the Shivshahi bus reached Sangli station around 12:30am, the victim and the driver reported the incident to the police there.”
“By then, the suspect had fled. The police chased him and arrested him. The suspect was beaten both by the police and citizens at the scene. The victim’s father, who arrived at the location, expressed extreme anger about the incident. Finally, a case was registered against the suspect late at night and he was taken into custody,” they added.
The police are investigating further.
