With an incident of rape at a busy and important inter-state bus terminus in Pune, the focus is back on the rising levels of crimes against women in Maharashtra. The alleged incident took place in the early hours of Tuesday, when a 26-year-old medical professional was waiting at the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation’s Swargate bus terminus for her bus to Phaltan. The accused approached her, called her ‘didi’ and assured her that the bus to her destination was parked at another bay. She hesitated to get into the dark bus that had no passenger, but he convinced her. Once inside, he allegedly raped her and walked out. That such a heinous act could take place at a crowded terminus that has been used by scores of women, across age and income groups, sparked outrage. It took 500 police personnel, dog squads, drones and the assistance of nearly 400 villagers, according to official sources, to nab the accused Dattatraya Ramdas Gade, 36, a history-sheeter on bail since 2019.

The crime could easily have been a statistic in the records had it not been for the location and the woman’s determination to approach the police. One case does not mean that the entire system of security has collapsed, but it does raise questions critical to the issue of women’s safety in public places. The immediate concern is the lapse in police processes. Gade, it transpires, has been involved in........

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