A 16-year-old student was gang-raped on a moving sleeper bus in Delhi. The incident occurred on 4 August, police said on Monday.
According to the police, the victim boarded the bus at Pari Chowk. The accused dropped her off at Kashmiri Gate. The bus traveled approximately 47 kilometers on the road. The windows of the bus were covered with curtains.
Police have arrested the bus driver, Kuldeep, and conductor, Sandeep. The victim is an 11th-grade student from Mainpuri district in Uttar Pradesh.
Student lost her way in heavy rain while travelling to Noida
According to Delhi Police officials, the student left home without informing her family on 4 August after an argument at home. She was going to meet her cousin, who lives in Noida.
Because of the heavy rain and darkness, she accidentally got off at Pari Chowk. Around the same time, an empty sleeper bus passed by. After getting stranded in the rain, the student asked for help and signalled the bus to stop, following which the bus stopped.
The driver and conductor allowed her to board the bus and told her that it was headed to Noida Sector 63. According to the police, some time after the bus started moving, the conductor began trying to engage in an obscene act with the student.
Accused of threatening to kill her when she protested
According to the victim, the driver and conductor then raped her. When the student resisted, both of them allegedly threatened to kill her.
It is alleged that late at night, the two dropped the student on Ring Road near the Kashmere Gate bus terminal and fled. Frightened, the student contacted the Kashmere Gate police and recounted the entire incident.
Both arrested from a parking lot in Timarpur
The police arrested both accused from a bus parking lot in Timarpur. The sleeper bus allegedly used in the incident has also been seized. A forensic examination of the bus is being conducted.
According to police sources, after the bus broke down, the accused took it to a workshop in Surajpur for repairs. Once the repairs were complete, the driver and conductor were taking the empty bus to Timarpur when they encountered the student at Pari Chowk.
Police said that the two used the curtained interior of the bus to conceal the crime during the late-night journey. The bus travelled approximately 47 kilometres from Pari Chowk to Kashmere Gate. Since the sleeper bus had curtains, people passing by outside could not see inside.
Further investigation into the matter is ongoing.
