The mystery of the death of a woman whose body was found in a stone mine at Mangdewadi on February 10 has been solved by the Pune Police, officials said on Wednesday.
According to the preliminary examination, the woman was physically assaulted by a group of six people who forced her to a secluded place. The victim was allegedly assaulted with hard objects before being pushed into a deep ditch of 40 to 50 feet, and succumbed to her injuries.
The arrested accused have been identified as Keshav Chaudhary, Sonya Pawar, Abdul Sheikh, Sai Pujari, Sohail Khan, and Mahadev Bhorade.
According to police, soon after the case was registered, Bharati Vidyapeeth Police, along with the Crime Branch, arrested six accused in connection with the crime.
As per preliminary information, on the day of the incident, three accused convinced the woman to go with them. Later, the woman sat in an auto-rickshaw and was taken to a secluded location. She was allegedly assaulted with a stick. Meanwhile, three more people were waiting at the spot and also assaulted her. After this, one of the accused pushed her into the stone quarry, leading to her death. To avoid identification through CCTV cameras, the accused had changed the hood of the auto-rickshaw used in the crime.
Rahul Khilare, Senior Police Inspector of Bharati Vidyapeeth Police Station, speaking to The Free Press Journal, said the deceased was a 40-year-old divorced woman and a resident of Kondhwa. She went along with the accused, who assaulted her and later pushed her into a ditch, leading to her death. The medical report revealed multiple fractures on the body.
Amitesh Kumar, Commissioner of Pune Police, said that the postmortem report does not mention gang rape. A case of murder has been registered based on the postmortem findings. So far, six accused have been arrested in the case, and the matter is under investigation. Further action will be taken accordingly.
