NEW DELHI: A 17-year-old girl who had left home after a fight with her parents was allegedly gang-raped in a moving sleeper bus she boarded in Greater Noida’s Pari Chowk on Aug 4. The accused – the driver and conductor – were nabbed within three hours of the crime. They were resting in the bus in Timarpur.Police said the assault took place between Pari Chowk and Noida Sector 63 – around 30km – with the driver and conductor taking turns at the wheel.
UP girl raped
The bus had curtains covering the windows. The accused, driver Kuldeep and conductor Sandeep, later abandoned the girl near Kashmere Gate, thinking it was far enough from the crime spot for them to escape being linked to the crime.Although the assault took place in Noida, Delhi Police took cognisance after the girl filed a complaint in Delhi, and initiated a probe.Duo threatened to kill teen when she resisted assault The chargesheet in the case is likely to be filed this week, Delhi Police said.On the night of Aug 4, the girl had left her home in Mainpuri and planned to go to her uncles’ in Noida Sec 63 to meet her cousin. She reached Pari Chowk and reportedly got off at the wrong stop due to heavy rain and darkness. Stranded and looking for help, she signalled an empty sleeper bus passing through the area.“The accused stopped and told her the bus was headed towards Noida Sector 63 and allowed her to get in,” a senior police officer said. But, as it turned out, the bus was not plying on any route at the time. Kuldeep and Sandeep, both from Kanpur, had been working at the bus company for around 2 years, and had been told to take the vehicle for repairs.Monu Gupta, manager of the bus travel company that owns the vehicle, said, “The bus had been at a workshop in Surajpur for repairs from July 27 until Aug 4, as its sensor was not functioning. It remained at the workshop until Aug 4. Around 9pm that day, they took it out. I had instructed them to take the bus to Timarpur for further repairs.” They were returning from Siraspur when the teenager flagged the bus down.As soon as the bus started moving, the conductor allegedly began making advances at the teenager. DCP (north) Niharika Bhatt said, “Both men sexually assaulted her inside the moving bus from Pari Chowk to Noida Sector 63 and threatened to kill her when she resisted.”The bus then continued towards Delhi. As the windows were covered with curtains, no one on the road saw anything amiss. After they abandoned the teenager on Ring Road near Kashmere Gate and fled, she approached the police station there and reported the incident.Investigators traced the accused to Timarpur and arrested both of them. The UP-registered sleeper bus has been seized and sent for forensic examination. Cops have seized CCTV footage along the route taken by the bus.The teenager was produced before the Child Welfare Committee and, in compliance with their orders, handed over to her father.Ravi Shankar Nim, DCP Greater Noida said Delhi Police had not provided any information regarding the incident to the Noida Police prior to Aug 31. “There are certain discrepancies between the authentic evidence available in connection with the incident and the version that has been issued. It is also noted that the survivor’s side has not provided any information regarding the incident to Gautam Buddh Nagar Police either,” Nim said.Sources in UP police said they had contacted the transporter who said there were passengers in the bus till Mayur Vihar and denied any assault as reported by the minor. Delhi Police, however, said the bus was not plying on a route and that no passenger was present at the time of the incident.Delhi Commission for Women has taken suo motu cognisance of the matter and ordered that the probe be expedited and an action-taken report be submitted within seven days.(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
