Acquitted of rape, Pune cop vows not to let innocents be booked

A year after sub-inspector Santosh Sonawane was arrested for kidnapping and raping a 20-year-old from Pune, he has been acquitted after the Pune district and sessions court gave him a clean chit on June 2. This came following the victim’s testimony that she had not been kidnapped and had gone to the cop of her own volition.
Sonawane (30) was posted as a sub-inspector at Mumbra police station in April 2016, and had a wife and daughter living in Pune.The victim resided in the same building as his family, where he used to come every week. According to the complaint filed back then, Sonawane had lured the victim under the pretext of helping her with further education.
On April 13, 2016, it was the victim’s birthday and Sonawane called her over to his house while his wife was away. According to the FIR, he gave her a cellphone and demanded sexual favours. When she refused, he raped her. This continued over the next few days, each time he came to Pune to meet his family.
The FIR stated that he had threatened her with dire consequences if she told anyone about their relationship. On April 23, he apparently called her and asked her to come and stay with him. Under pressure, she left a note at her house saying that she was moving to Thane for further education and wanted to be left alone.
Once she alighted from a train at Kalyan, Sonawane picked her up and took her to a lodge in Kalva, not very far from Mumbra, where he was posted. For the next few days, he raped her and locked her up in the room, the FIR stated. It was only on April 27, that the victim’s father, with help from the Thane police, was able to trace the two using cellphone location. The victim was released and Sonawane nabbed on charges of kidnapping, rape, criminal intimidation and cheating, among others.
An FIR was filed with Kalva police station and later transferred to the Wanowrie police in Pune. Sonawane was sentenced to both police and judicial custody. In September 2016, the cops filed a charge sheet. Finally, on June 2, additional sessions judge, Mohammad Nasir M Saleem, acquitted him of all charges.
“The prosecutrix admitted that she maintained the physical relationship with the accused as per her will. Nowhere did she claim that the accused obtained her consent for such a relationship either by extending threats to her or by promising marriage. It has also not come in her evidence that she consented to the sexual relationship by reason of unsoundness of mind or administration of any intoxication. She was an adult and knew the consequences of a sexual relationship, and therefore, it cannot be said that her consent for keeping the physical relationship has been obtained by the accused by defrauding her or by way of misconception of fact,” the order stated.
Sources in the police revealed that Sonawane was a victim of politics within the force. The subinspector did not get along with one of his superiors, who forced the victim and her father to file a rape case against Sonawane at the time. “It was nothing more than a missing persons case. The senior cop pressured the victim to file a case, which resulted in the entire mess,” said an officer who was involved in the investigation.
Now that he has been acquitted, Sonawane has heaved a sigh of relief. “I was framed. I am lucky that my family and wife stood by me all along. The case took a huge toll on my life as well on my family. Being a police officer myself, I saw the other side of the law and it sent shivers down my spine,” said Sonawane, who is still under suspension and will resume duties once he gets a certified copy of the order. He elaborated that while in jail, he met a lot of people who had been wrongly booked and framed. “I have vowed that once I rejoin the force, I will not let an innocent get into trouble. I won’t allow another person to go through what I did,” he concluded.