Pune:
Director General of Police A N Roy on Tuesday spoke of strict action against police officials if it was found that they had failed to go after Subhash Bhosale, prime accused in last week's Pune gang rape case, in an earlier case of rape registered at the Chatushrungi police station in March.
But the Chatushrungi police claim the case could not be taken forward in spite of their best efforts because it was a tricky one. They said they had made every attempt to approach the victim to record her statement, but that they could accomplish only with great difficulty.
Police Sub-Inspector Manisha Dhamane said, "We had to issue summons as the lady failed to come to the police station even after repeatedly contacting her. Only when the summons were issued to her on March 22 did the lady come to record her statement."
Finally, on March 30, the woman lodged a complaint saying she was raped by Bhosale between May and July last year.
According to the victim, she was staying with Bhosale between April and July last year in Alandi. When her husband registered a missing person's complaint at Warje police station on September 7, 2009, the woman had appeared before the police to say Bhosale was her lover.
But the woman now says Bhosale repeatedly raped her and threatened to harm her children.
On why she did not lodge a complaint earlier, she said, "I tried to lodge a complaint, but the Warje police asked us to go to Yerawada."
The Pune gang rape victim's family meanwhile was unhappy when it learnt that Bhosale was not tried in another rape case earlier. Her brother-in-law said, "If Bhosale had been arrested and tried in court at that time itself, this would not have happened."