Panchkula: School bus driver gets 25-yr RI for sexually assaulting 4-year-old

The convict, identified as Niranjan Singh alias Honey, a resident of Solan district in Himachal Pradesh, has also been told to pay a fine of ₹50,000

A special POCSO court in Panchkula sentenced a private school bus driver to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for sexually assaulting a four-year-old nursery student in February 2020.

The incident took place on February 14, 2020. (HT Photo for representation)

The convict, identified as Niranjan Singh alias Honey, a resident of Solan district in Himachal Pradesh, has also been told to pay a fine of ₹50,000. He was convicted under Section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, which deals with aggravated penetrative sexual assault.

This was the first conviction delivered by this special court since its constitution in November last year.

The incident took place on February 14, 2020. The victim, who used to reside with her aunt in Panchkula, was the last student to be dropped home. With no female attendant present inside the bus, the four-year-old was left vulnerable and the convict, aged 24 at the time, sexually assaulted her. On reaching home, the girl told her aunt that “driver uncle had acted inappropriately”. Although the family attempted to lodge a complaint the same day, the FIR was registered on February 15 due to a non-functional CCTNS (crime and criminal tracking network and systems) server in Panchkula. Police arrested the accused on February 15 after seizing the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage from the bus.

Victim successfully identified bus driver helped nail him

Deputy district attorney (DDA) Sukhwinder Kaur said the prosecution’s case was strengthened by the victim’s exceptional bravery. Despite being only four years and four months old at the time of the incident, the child successfully identified the bus driver during a test identification parade (TIP) in court. During her testimony, she provided a clear and consistent account of the assault, which fully supported her prior statement recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure.