Two army jawans arrested for raping teenager in Pune

Close on the heels of the alleged rape of a 25-year-old woman in Hinjewadi last week, a 19-year-old girl was allegedly raped by two army jawans while on duty. The incident took place on Wednesday night in an isolated area near Swaraj Garden at Pimple Saudagar under Sangvi police station jurisdiction.

The victim works as a waitress at a hotel near Morwadi. Sangvi police have arrested the two jawans from 17 Rajputana Rifles identified as Rajneesh Suresh Chandra Kumar, 26, of Uttar Pradesh and Saumdar Mahipal Singh, 30, of Rajasthan on Thursday.

Assistant commissioner of police Vishnu Mane said the victim had gone to Swaraj Garden to meet her boyfriend around 8.30 pm on Wednesday. “As they were talking, the two jawans — one of them in army attire and the other dressed casually — arrived on the scene. One of them allegedly beat the boyfriend and took the girl to a bunker in the garden and raped her,” Mane said. When the girl tried to scream, the suspects threatened her with a sharp weapon. 

The suspects took the girl’s cellphone number and said she would have to come whenever they called her. They called her at 11 pm the same night.

On Thursday, the girl lodged a police complaint. “We laid a trap, but the jawans didn’t come. Inspector BS Sonawane then spoke to the commanding officer of 17 Rajputana Rifles who handed them over,” he added. The suspects have been booked for gang rape and have been remanded in police custody till April 15.