Twist in Pune rape case: No forced entry, no use of spray, selfie with consent, says top cop; friend detained based on phone location

Pune: City police commissioner Amitesh Kumar on Friday said investigation into the alleged rape of a 22-year-old data scientist by a "delivery agent" in a Kondhwa flat on Wednesday revealed that there was "no forced entry into the woman's flat, no chemical was sprayed to render her unconscious and the selfie on her cellphone was taken with her consent before she herself cropped the image".

Kumar told TOI, "We have detained her 27-year-old friend, an IT professional with a software company in Baner, after evidence like his cellphone location showed that he was around the flat at the time of the alleged incident. His questioning is going on. We will also come to a conclusion on if it was a case of consensual or non-consensual physical relationship at the end of our investigation. For now, we have no comment to offer as far as the medical evidence in the case is concerned."

He said: "On Wednesday evening, she called her friend to her 11th floor rented flat claiming that she was feeling low and disturbed and he visited her. While leaving the flat, the woman, in a bid to hide his exit, told her friend that instead of using the elevator that had CCTV cameras, he should take the staircase of the building."

Asked then what may have prompted the woman to make the rape allegation against an "unidentified delivery agent", Kumar said: "It is too early to comment on this point. Our investigation is yet to be completed."

Another police officer, privy to the investigation details, told TOI: "We are yet to receive the woman's medical examination reports that will throw light on the sexual assault angle."

On Thursday, the Kondhwa police had registered a case of rape, vouyerism and criminal intimidation based on the woman's complaint stating that an unknown "delivery agent" stepped into her house on the pretext of delivering a parcel and getting a delivery sheet acknowledged, sprayed some chemical on her face to render her unconscious and later sexually assaulted her. The woman, who has a BE degree in data science and works with an IT firm in Kalyaninagar, had also told the police that the man used her phone to take a selfie and then cropped his image and keyed in a message on her phone threatening her against disclosing the incident to anyone or else he would circulate her photo on social media.

Investigations so far revealed that the woman and her friend have known each other for a year, and she is also familiar with his family members, Kumar said.

As part of the investigation, the police examined close to 500 cellphone call data records (CDRs) that were active in the area around the society where the woman lives. The police chief said: "Her friend's contact number was spotted during this scrutiny," the police chief said. "Investigators also realised that her friend's cellphone location, at the time of the incident, was shown to be around her flat and they started tracking his cellphone tower movement from the time he left the spot, up to Baner. Based on further investigation, our team picked up her friend for questioning late Friday afternoon."

Kumar said the woman's friend told the police that she contacted him stating that she was feeling a bit disturbed and asked him to come to her house. The man then visited her house to spend time with her, and they also clicked a selfie during this time, the CP said. "It was only after he left her home that the woman cropped the selfie image, keyed in the threat message on her phone and called her relative claiming sexual assault," he said.

Pune: City police commissioner Amitesh Kumar on Friday said investigation into the alleged rape of a 22-year-old data scientist by a "delivery agent" in a Kondhwa flat on Wednesday revealed that there was "no forced entry into the woman's flat, no chemical was sprayed to render her unconscious and the selfie on her cellphone was taken with her consent before she herself cropped the image".

Kumar told TOI, "We have detained her 27-year-old friend, an IT professional with a software company in Baner, after evidence like his cellphone location showed that he was around the flat at the time of the alleged incident. His questioning is going on. We will also come to a conclusion on if it was a case of consensual or non-consensual physical relationship at the end of our investigation. For now, we have no comment to offer as far as the medical evidence in the case is concerned."

He said: "On Wednesday evening, she called her friend to her 11th floor rented flat claiming that she was feeling low and disturbed and he visited her. While leaving the flat, the woman, in a bid to hide his exit, told her friend that instead of using the elevator that had CCTV cameras, he should take the staircase of the building."

Asked then what may have prompted the woman to make the rape allegation against an "unidentified delivery agent", Kumar said: "It is too early to comment on this point. Our investigation is yet to be completed."

Another police officer, privy to the investigation details, told TOI: "We are yet to receive the woman's medical examination reports that will throw light on the sexual assault angle."

On Thursday, the Kondhwa police had registered a case of rape, vouyerism and criminal intimidation based on the woman's complaint stating that an unknown "delivery agent" stepped into her house on the pretext of delivering a parcel and getting a delivery sheet acknowledged, sprayed some chemical on her face to render her unconscious and later sexually assaulted her. The woman, who has a BE degree in data science and works with an IT firm in Kalyaninagar, had also told the police that the man used her phone to take a selfie and then cropped his image and keyed in a message on her phone threatening her against disclosing the incident to anyone or else he would circulate her photo on social media.

Investigations so far revealed that the woman and her friend have known each other for a year, and she is also familiar with his family members, Kumar said.

As part of the investigation, the police examined close to 500 cellphone call data records (CDRs) that were active in the area around the society where the woman lives. The police chief said: "Her friend's contact number was spotted during this scrutiny," the police chief said. "Investigators also realised that her friend's cellphone location, at the time of the incident, was shown to be around her flat and they started tracking his cellphone tower movement from the time he left the spot, up to Baner. Based on further investigation, our team picked up her friend for questioning late Friday afternoon."

Kumar said the woman's friend told the police that she contacted him stating that she was feeling a bit disturbed and asked him to come to her house. The man then visited her house to spend time with her, and they also clicked a selfie during this time, the CP said. "It was only after he left her home that the woman cropped the selfie image, keyed in the threat message on her phone and called her relative claiming sexual assault," he said.