Pune Court Sentences Two Men to Life Imprisonment Until Natural Death for Raping 18-Year-Old

Pune, 27th July 2026: A Pune court has sentenced two men to life imprisonment for the remainder of their natural lives and imposed a fine of ₹25,000 each for sexually assaulting an 18-year-old woman after allegedly luring her to a car shed near the parking area of Talegaon railway station on the pretext of offering her food.

Additional District and Sessions Judge M.S. Tapkire pronounced the verdict. The convicts have been identified as Sharad Muralidhar Salve, 35, and Ankitsin Ratan Singh Bista alias Kanchan, 34.

The prosecution was represented by Special Public Prosecutor Surekha Kshirsagar.

According to the prosecution case, the woman travelled by train from Baramati to Talegaon in 2016. The two accused allegedly approached her and lured her on the pretext of providing food. They allegedly took her to a car shed in the parking area near Talegaon railway station, where she was sexually assaulted.

Following the incident, the railway police registered a case and launched an investigation.

Then-Police Sub-Inspector Shamsuddin Sheikh conducted a detailed investigation and collected evidence against the accused, according to the prosecution.

During the trial, the court recorded the testimony of 12 witnesses. After considering the evidence collected during the investigation, witness statements and arguments presented by the prosecution, the court found both accused guilty and sentenced them to imprisonment for the remainder of their natural lives.

The investigation was conducted under the guidance of Railway Police Superintendent Dr Rajkumar Shinde and Additional Superintendent of Police Vishal Gaikwad.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer Ravindra Gaikwad, Police Inspectors Pramod Khopikar and Shantaram Fad, Assistant Police Sub-Inspector Prabhakar Kapure, and police personnel Dattatray More, Sachiv Yadav, Sachin Rathod, Swati Kendre and Vijaya Dhivande played key roles in the investigation, according to the police.