New Delhi: A 17-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped inside a sleeper bus that travelled around 47km from Greater Noida to Delhi’s Kashmere Gate, reportedly without encountering a single police checkpoint along the route.
The incident, which occurred on August 4, has once again raised questions about the enforcement of safety protocols prescribed for public and private passenger buses following the 2012 December 16 gangrape case.
Niharika Bhatt, DCP, North Delhi, said the teenager approached the Kashmere Gate police station on the night of August 4 and reported that she had been sexually assaulted inside a bus in Noida. Police found that she had travelled from Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh and was on her way to a relative’s house in Noida. The alleged assault took place after she boarded the bus at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida.
The accused were identified as bus driver Kuldeep, 39, and conductor Sandeep, 26, both from Kanpur. Police arrested the two within four hours of receiving the complaint.
According to officers quoted in The Indian Express report, the bus travelled along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway and Ring Road, crossing several major entry and exit points before reaching Delhi. After the alleged assault, the two men reportedly left the girl on Ring Road, within the Kashmere Gate police station’s jurisdiction, some distance from where the alleged crime occurred.
Bhatt said Kashmere Gate police, treating the matter as sensitive and acting under the provisions of the new criminal laws, immediately arranged for the girl’s medical examination and registered the case without raising jurisdictional concerns. CCTV footage helped investigators locate the bus within four hours, following which the two accused were arrested. The girl was presented before the Child Welfare Committee and, on its directions, was handed over to her father. The investigation remains in progress.
Investigators have reportedly recovered forensic material from the bus, including hair strands and semen samples. The accused have also undergone medical examinations.
The report, quoting sources, said the bus had been taken to a workshop in Surajpur, Greater Noida, for repairs after developing a technical problem. Kuldeep and Sandeep had reportedly been working with Vishwanath Travels for about two years. After the repairs were completed, they were allegedly driving the bus towards a parking facility in Timarpur, North Delhi, when they saw the girl at Pari Chowk.
Police sources said the teenager was alone at the location when the two men allegedly convinced her to board the bus. Officers allege that the girl was subsequently gang-raped inside the vehicle.
The accused allegedly left her at Kashmere Gate before taking the bus to the Timarpur parking area. The girl reportedly approached a nearby police booth and sought directions to the police station. Personnel at the booth arranged an auto-rickshaw to take her to the Kashmere Gate police station.
Police later traced the suspected sleeper bus to the Timarpur parking facility, where the two accused were arrested.
