Pune: Two men on a bike robbed two women travelling in a private van of their ornaments worth Rs1.5 lakh and one of them sexually assaulted a 17-year-old girl, who was also in the vehicle that had halted in front of a tea stall on the outskirts of Swami Chincholi village near Bhigwan on Pune-Solapur highway around 4.15am on Monday.Superintendent of police (Pune Rural) Sandeep Singh Gill said, “A case of robbery, rape, abduction and criminal intimidation has been registered with the Daund police. Seven members of two families of farmers from Junnar were travelling to Pandharpur for a pilgrimage in the van.”Additional superintendent of police Ganesh Birajdar of Pune Rural police told TOI, “As the girl who was assaulted is a minor, one of the suspects has been charged with rape as per the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act provisions.”Two senior citizens, a woman, two 17-year-old girls and two 17-year-old boys were in the van. “Around 4.15am, the driver (70) of the van said he was feeling drowsy and stopped the vehicle in front of the tea stall along the highway,” Gill said.“The door of the van was open when the driver got down to have a cup of tea. At this moment, the two men reached the spot on the motorcycle. Wielding a billhook, they threatened the travellers, snatched earrings and chains, totally weighing 25gm, of the two women and left the spot,” he said.“However, they returned to the spot within a couple of minutes and threatened the families again. They then forced one of the girls out of the van and drove her away. The two men returned with the girl after 15 minutes. The girl later told the police that one of the two men sexually assaulted her in a nearby area,” the SP said.Asked if the family members had raised any alarm or tried to resist the duo, Gill said: “Two of the members were senior citizens — one of them a woman. The youngsters from the two families are pursuing their Std X and XI studies in Junnar. Besides, all of them were frightened by the sight of two men wielding the billhook and threatening them.”
