Daijiworld Media Network - Greater Noida
Greater Noida, Aug 31: A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped inside a sleeper bus by its driver and conductor in Greater Noida earlier this month, police said on Monday. The two accused have been arrested.
The alleged incident took place near Pari Chowk on August 4. According to police, the survivor alleged that the two men sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill her if she resisted before abandoning her near Kashmere Gate in Delhi.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Delhi North District) Niharika Bhat said the accused, identified as driver Kuldeep and conductor Sandeep, were arrested from a parking area in Timarpur the same day.
Police seized the bus and sent it for forensic examination. CCTV footage from the route taken by the bus was also collected as part of the investigation.
The teenager, a resident of Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh, had reportedly left home without informing her family after her mother reprimanded her over her studies. She was travelling to Noida Sector 63, where her cousin lives.
According to her complaint, the girl mistakenly got down at Pari Chowk amid heavy rain and darkness. Realising that she had reached the wrong location, she stopped a sleeper bus. The bus had no passengers at the time. The conductor allegedly told her that it was heading towards Noida Sector 63, following which she boarded the vehicle.
Police said the bus was returning empty after undergoing repairs at a workshop in Surajpur. The girl alleged that shortly after the bus began moving, the conductor started behaving inappropriately. She alleged that both men subsequently sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill her if she resisted.
The survivor approached police after the accused allegedly abandoned her near the Ring Road and fled.
Kuldeep and Sandeep have been booked on charges including gang rape, kidnapping and assault. Police said the sleeper berths inside the bus were covered with curtains and forensic teams recovered strands of the girl's hair from the vehicle.
The Child Welfare Committee subsequently handed over the girl to her parents, while the accused were sent to judicial custody.
The case has brought renewed attention to crimes against women in public transport. In 2012, the rape and murder of a 23-year-old woman on a bus in Delhi triggered nationwide outrage and led to the introduction of tougher laws aimed at preventing crimes against women.