Delhi: 16-Year-Old Allegedly Gang-Raped in Moving Sleeper Bus; Two Arrested
A 16-year-old student from Uttar Pradesh was allegedly gang-raped inside a moving sleeper bus in the national capital on the night of August 4, Delhi police said. The bus travelled approximately 47 kilometres before the accused abandoned the survivor near the Kashmere Gate bus terminal, police added.
The police have arrested the bus driver, identified as Kuldeep, and the conductor, Sandeep, in connection with the case. Both were arrested from a bus parking lot in Timarpur, and the sleeper bus used in the crime has been seized and sent for forensic examination.
According to police sources, the survivor is a Class 11 student from the Mainpuri district of Uttar Pradesh. She had left home without informing her family after a disagreement and was on her way to visit her cousin in Noida. Due to heavy rain and darkness, she mistakenly got off at Pari Chowk and was stranded in the downpour.
At that point, an empty sleeper bus passed by. The student signalled it to stop, and the driver and conductor obliged. They told her that the bus was going to Noida Sector-63, and she boarded. The bus had no other passengers, leaving the student alone with the two men.
Shortly after the bus started moving, the conductor allegedly began making obscene advances towards the student. When she resisted, the driver and conductor allegedly raped her inside the bus and threatened to kill her, according to the survivor's complaint to police.
The accused later pulled over on the Ring Road near the Kashmere Gate bus terminal, dropped the student off, and fled the scene. In a distressed state, she approached the Kashmere Gate police and reported the ordeal. Following her complaint, the police registered a case and launched a search for the accused.
Acting on technical surveillance and local intelligence, the police arrested both accused from a bus parking lot in Timarpur. The sleeper bus used in the crime was also recovered from their possession and has been sent for forensic examination.
During investigation, police said the bus had suffered a mechanical breakdown earlier and was taken to a workshop in Surajpur for repairs. After the repairs were completed, the driver and conductor were driving the empty bus back to Timarpur when they encountered the student at Pari Chowk.
Explaining how the crime was concealed, a police officer noted that the bus was a sleeper coach with curtains drawn across the berths, making it impossible for passersby to see the interior during the late-night journey. The distance covered from Pari Chowk to Kashmere Gate was about 47 kilometres, he added.
Police said further investigation is underway to establish all the facts. The accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, as the survivor is a minor. The police have appealed to the public not to speculate on the case and to respect the survivor's privacy. The accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
