Lawyer Sahil Dongre, who is defending Swargate rape case accused Datta Gade, was kidnapped from Hadapsar and taken to Dive Ghat. There, he was badly beaten before being let go. Even though he was injured, Dongre went to Hadapsar police station and filed a complaint. The police have started investigating the incident.
Pune: A shocking development emerged in the ongoing rape case involving a young woman on a Shivshahi bus at Pune’s Swargate station. The lawyer representing the accused was reportedly kidnapped and assaulted at Dive Ghat in Pune.
According to Adv. Wajid Khan, the incident occurred on February 26, when the victim was raped by the accused, Datta Gade, while traveling from Swargate to Phaltan. Gade approached her under the pretense of conversation before leading her to a Shivshahi bus, where the crime took place.
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After fleeing the scene, Gade was arrested by Pune police 75 hours later in Gunat village.
In a surprising twist, on March 17, Sahil Dongre, the lawyer for Gade, was abducted from Hadapsar and taken to Dive Ghat, where he was assaulted before being released.
Following the incident, Dongre filed a complaint at the Hadapsar police station and sought medical attention. The motives behind the attack remain unclear, and Dongre is currently receiving treatment at Sassoon Hospital.
Dongre serves as the assistant to Wajid Khan, who has made several controversial statements during court proceedings, including questioning the victim’s credibility. Khan argued that the incident could not have been forced, as it occurred in the morning, and suggested that the victim could have screamed for help.
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He also claimed that the victim accepted Rs. 7,500 from the accused, implying the act may have been consensual.
The Swargate rape case is about the alleged sexual assault of a 26-year-old woman inside a parked MSRTC bus at Pune’s Swargate bus depot on February 25, 2025. The woman, who works as a health counsellor at a Pune hospital, was waiting for a bus to Phaltan when it happened.
The accused, 37-year-old Dattatray Ramdas Gade, who has a criminal record, approached her, pretending to help with her travel. He tricked her into getting on an empty Shivshahi bus, where he allegedly attacked her before running away.
After the survivor filed a complaint, the police started a big search for Gade. He was caught on February 28, 2025, in his hometown, Gunat village in Shirur taluka, Pune district. While hiding from the police, Gade reportedly tried to end his life several times. When he was arrested, marks were found on his neck, showing his suicide attempts.
He has been sent to judicial custody until March 26, 2025, while the investigation continues.