PUNE: A 17-year-old girl travelling in a car was allegedly sexually assaulted and three other women occupants robbed of gold jewellery by two motorbike-borne unidentified persons on a highway in Maharashtra's Pune district, police said.
The incident took place around 4.15 am on Monday near Bhigwan on the highway in Daund area when the car in which the victims were travelling halted after the driver wanted to answer nature's call, a police official said.
There were seven persons in the car -- the driver aged 70, three women, two 17-year-old boys and a 17-year-old girl.
They belonged to two different families from a village in Junnar tehsil of Pune district and were on way to Pandharpur temple town in neighbouring Solapur district, he said.
"As the driver felt sleepy, he halted the car near a tea stall. When the driver stepped out to answer nature's call, two unidentified men approached the vehicle and threatened the occupants with sharp weapons and robbed gold jewellery.
One of the accused then took the minor girl out of the car and sexually assaulted her," the official said.
The duo then fled the spot on their motorcycle, after which the traumatised car occupants gathered strength and informed police about the incident, he said.
The 73-year-old owner of the tea stall, where the car passengers had stopped, witnessed the incident, but due to his old age, he was not able to provide all relevant details, according to the official.
"A case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Eight teams have been formed to trace and nab the accused," Pune (Rural) Superintendent of Police Sandip Singh Gill said.