Pune Rape Case: Absconding Accused Arrested From Latur After Months On Run

Pune: Pune Police have arrested a 22-year-old man who had been absconding in a rape case registered earlier this year, officials said on Saturday.

The accused, Kashiram Chandrakant Mhaskale, a resident of Mangdewadi in Katraj, was taken into custody from the Latur region by a team of the Bharti Vidyapeeth Police. He is accused of luring a young woman and sexually assaulting her. Police said he had also threatened to circulate her photographs on social media.

A case was registered against Mhaskale in March after the survivor filed a complaint. Soon after, the accused went missing, prompting a search operation by the police. During the investigation, officers used technical analysis to trace his location to the Kharabwadi area in Latur.

Based on this input, a police team laid a trap and arrested him. Officials said the operation was carried out under the guidance of Deputy Commissioner of Police Milind Mohite and Assistant Commissioner Rahul Aware. The team included senior officers and crime branch personnel who tracked the accused across districts.

Police said further investigation is underway.

The Nasrapur rape and murder case

The recent arrest comes amid statewide outrage over a separate and brutal crime reported from Nasrapur village in Pune district.

On May 1, a four-year-old girl was sexually assaulted and murdered in Bhor tehsil. According to police, the child had come to visit her grandmother for the summer holidays when she was lured away by a 65-year-old man identified as Bhimrao Kamble.

CCTV footage showed the accused taking the child towards a cattle shed on the pretext of showing her a calf. After she went missing, her family began searching for her. Her body was later found hidden under a pile of cow dung inside the shed. Officials said forensic evidence confirmed sexual assault, and the child was killed using a heavy stone.

The incident triggered anger across the state. Villagers blocked the Pune-Satara highway and observed a complete shutdown in Nasrapur. Police had to use mild force to control the crowd as protests intensified.