16-year-old girl raped inside bus in Delhi; driver, conductor arrested

New Delhi: A 16-year-old girl was raped allegedly by a driver and a conductor in a bus and was abandoned by them in Delhi's Kashmere Gate earlier this month — an incident that has drawn sharp comparisons to the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case of 2012.

The two accused bus driver Kuldeep (39) and conductor Sandeep (26), both residents of Kanpur were arrested on August 4, hours after the incident, the police said on Monday.

The girl had left her home in Uttar Pradesh 's Mainpuri to go to her cousin's house in Greater Noida. According to the police, the Class XI student got off at Pari Chowk by mistake though her destination was another 25 km away. She was looking for transportation when a bus approached her and the conductor allegedly told her that they were headed to Noida Sector 63, where she was supposed to go.

As it was a rainy night, she hopped on to the bus trusting the conductor's words at around 9 pm. The police said the bus was not operating as a regular passenger service, as it had been taken to a workshop in Surajpur in Greater Noida for repairs after developing a technical fault.

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They travelled from Surajpur towards Pari Chowk, through the Advant area and Noida Sector 93, before proceeding towards Delhi and Kashmere Gate where she was abandoned. The girl then took an autorickshaw to the police station to report the crime following which both the accused, residents of Kanpur, were arrested from a parking lot in north Delhi's Timarpur.

The police said the conductor allegedly behaved inappropriately and sexually assaulted her while the driver was complicit in the act. The duo allegedly threatened to kill her if she resisted, the police said adding that a medical examination confirmed rape.

According to investigators, the bus travelled around 43 km from Greater Noida to Kashmere Gate without stopping, passing through several locations monitored by CCTV cameras, police posts, and barricades. Investigators are now trying to ascertain how the bus went unchecked for such a long distance and to identify the exact locations at which it may have stopped before abandoning the girl.

During forensic examination, a team recovered strands of the girl's hair from inside the bus, the police said. The vehicle was seized on the same day, and its doors have now been closed as forensic investigation is still underway.

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Both Kuldeep and Sandeep had been working with Vishwanath Travels, a travels company, for over two years.

The police are verifying whether the two men have criminal records and are examining whether the bus owner and the travel company properly vetted their background before hiring them.

"The police informed the girl's family about the incident that same night and called them to Delhi. Female police personnel remained with her, assisting until her family arrived," a police officer said.

After completing the formalities, the police handed the girl over to her family.