Bhopal: Woman raped in moving bus, conductor and driver arrested

A 35-year-old woman was allegedly raped in a moving bus in the capital of Madhya Pradesh, police said on Thursday, with the crime being reminiscent of the brutal 2012 sexual assault of a student in Delhi that had shocked the country.

Police in MP Nagar, where the sex attack occurred late on Wednesday night, have arrested the conductor of the bus, who allegedly raped the woman, and the driver. A third accused, whose identity was not disclosed by police, is absconding. Police also seized the bus in which the crime took place.

Superintendent of Police (MP Nagar) Bhartendu Sharma said Deepak, the conductor, and Salman, the driver, were picked up from their homes in Chhola area and are being interrogated.

The victim, a resident of Lalghati, runs a vegetable shop. She had gone to Nariyalkheda to meet a relative and was travelling to Pul Bogada to stay at another relative’s home for the night.

According to the victim’s complaint, she took an auto-rickshaw from Nariyalkheda to the Nadara bus stand, where the driver, conductor and another man forced her to sit in the mini bus.

When the vehicle reached Pul Bogada, the driver didn't stop the bus and instead sped up. Deepak then allegedly raped her in the moving bus.

When the bus stopped near Subhash railway crossing, the two other men allegedly tried to rape her but she managed to free herself and ran to a nearby police station.

"On the victim's complaint, we (named) three persons, including bus conductor Deepak, bus driver Salman and one other, as the accused," Sharma said.

In December 2012, the country was shocked by the brutal gang-rape of a paramedical student on a moving bus in Delhi. The victim later died in a Singapore hospital.