Nursing student says she was raped while returning to her flat, SIT Probe

Police have registered an FIR and formed an SIT to probe the case.

In her statement to the police, the woman said that she had traveled to Devrukh town in Sangameshwar to meet her parents. She then returned the same night in a State Transport (ST) bus, arriving early on Tuesday in Ratnagiri city, where she was studying in a nursing college.

After getting off the bus stop, she took an autorickshaw to her rented flat, which she shared with two other people.

She said to the police that the autorickshaw driver had given her water to drink when she first got in. She claimed that after consuming the water, she felt unwell and soon lost consciousness.

As per her statement, upon regaining consciousness, she discovered herself on the ground and called up her friends, who then reported the same information to the police.

An FIR was filed after she suspected that the water had been spiked with sedatives and the Auto driver sexually assaulted her.

Upon reviewing CCTV footage from the location where she got off the bus, authorities discovered that she was walking rather than taking an autorickshaw to her home. Her rented flat is close to the bus stop, Police said.

An officer added that when they questioned her about the discrepancy, she claimed to be confused and that she had been attacked with pepper spray and sexually assaulted by a man as she walked to her residence.

The police also found some scratch marks on her hand and are currently waiting for her medical report to find out if she was sexually assaulted.

After speaking with the woman's parents and the college principal, police discovered that she had epilepsy.

Her parents arrived at the institution from Devrukh almost two weeks ago because she was not allowed to take her examinations because of her poor attendance. Eventually, she was permitted to take examinations.

An officer stated that they do not have clarity on the exact order of events due to the conflicting versions of what happened.

"We have formed a SIT led by a female officer and comprising 11 personnel. We are probing the matter and will soon solve the case," stated Ratnagiri SP Dhananjay Kulkarni.