The Pune case involving a 22 years old data scientist girl, who had alleged that a courier boy sexually assaulted her after entering her building, has taken a complete 360-degree turn. The case, which initially led to the deployment of over 500 police officers, has now revealed startling contradictions in the victim’s statement.
Earlier, According to the victim, a man posing as a courier boy rang her doorbell when she was alone at home. He allegedly told her that a parcel had arrived and asked her to fetch a pen for the signature. When she returned with the pen, she claimed that the suspect sprayed something on her, causing her to lose consciousness, after which he sexually assaulted her, clicked a selfie with her, and left a message saying, “Don’t tell anyone, I’ll come again.” Based on this statement, the police immediately began a massive manhunt for the suspect.
The breakthrough came when the suspect was found attending a wedding function and was detained from there by police. During interrogation, discrepancies began to emerge including a mismatch between the timeline from CCTV footage showing the suspect entering the building and the victim’s call to police. Further, police found that the selfie submitted as evidence had been edited, and the original image told a different story.
In a detailed questioning of all 44 flats in the building, none of the residents recognized the alleged courier boy, raising further doubts. During questioning, the suspect revealed that he and the girl were actually friends and had known each other for years. Their families also knew each other, he said.
When police confronted the victim with these facts, she admitted that she and the boy were indeed friends and had fabricated the courier boy story to avoid suspicion from neighbors whenever he visited her. She confessed that they had planned for him to pose as a courier boy to make his visits look routine and go unnoticed.
Investigation further confirmed that the two were in a romantic relationship for over a year, and the boy had visited the girl’s residence multiple times. They had spent considerable time together. It also came to light that the selfie submitted to the police had been taken with mutual consent and was later edited by the girl around one hour after she made the police call.
When police asked the accused if he knew about the viral news reports, he said he had seen the news but didn’t realize it was about the same girl or that he was the one being searched for by police.
Police have now recorded statements from the girl’s family, building residents, and the suspect relatives.
Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar confirmed that the accused was detained from within the city, but a decision regarding formal arrest has not yet been taken. “We are currently recording statements from both parties. Any further action will be determined based on the outcome of the ongoing inquiry,” he stated.
Despite these major developments, the police have not dismissed the rape allegation. The investigation remains open, and a decision regarding arrest will be made if the complainant chooses to stick to her original statement and also wait for the medical reports.
