A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped inside a sleeper bus by the vehicle’s driver and conductor in Greater Noida earlier this month, police said on Monday.
The two accused have been arrested.
According to the police, the incident took place near Pari Chowk on August 4.
In her complaint, the survivor alleged that the accused raped her and threatened to kill her if she resisted. They later abandoned her near Kashmere Gate in Delhi.
Deputy police commissioner (Delhi North District) Niharika Bhat said the 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, besides collecting CCTV footage from the route the bus took on August 14.
The teenager, the police said, is a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Mainpuri. She had left home without informing her family after her mother reprimanded her over studies. She was on her way to Noida sector 63, where her cousin lives.
The girl told the police that she mistakenly got down at Pari Chowk amid heavy rain and darkness. Realising she was at the wrong place, she hailed the sleeper bus. The bus had no passengers. The conductor allegedly told her that it was headed towards Noida sector 63, following which she boarded.
{{/usCountry}}The girl told the police that she mistakenly got down at Pari Chowk amid heavy rain and darkness. Realising she was at the wrong place, she hailed the sleeper bus. The bus had no passengers. The conductor allegedly told her that it was headed towards Noida sector 63, following which she boarded.
{{/usCountry}}Police said the sleeper bus was returning empty after repairs at a workshop in Surajpur. The girl alleged that shortly after the bus started moving, the conductor began behaving inappropriately. She said both men then sexually assaulted her and threatened to kill her if she resisted. She approached the police after the accused abandoned her near the Ring Road and fled.
Kuldeep and Sandeep have been booked for gang rape, kidnapping and assault. Police said the bus had curtains covering the sleeper berths, and forensic teams recovered strands of the girl’s hair from the vehicle.
A child welfare committee handed over the girl to her parents while the accused were sent to judicial custody.
In 2012, the rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a bus in Delhi provoked national outrage and prompted the government to pass tougher laws to check crimes against women.