Bus driver, brother arrested
Ram Singh, the regular driver of the Whiteline private bus in which a 23-year-old girl was gangraped at around 9.30 pm Sunday, and his brother Mukesh, who was driving the bus on Sunday, have been arrested.
Ram Singh, who belongs to Rajasthan, lives in R.K. Puram area of the city.
Six men, including Ram Singh and Mukesh, were drinking alocohol in the bus and decided to make an extra buck; that is why they ferried the victims on Sunday.
The girl and her male friend boarded the bus at Munirka. The victim’s friend was supposed to drop her at her flat at Dwarka. What followed was a nightmare.
Sources said that as the couple got into the vehicle there were already six men sitting inside, which included the driver and bus conductor. As they settled down, one of the drunken men picked up a fight with the girl’s friend. The argument reportedly turned violent and the drunk man began to assault the girl’s friend. Soon three others, who too were in an inebriated state, joined the fight and began assaulting the boy and then took turns to rape the girl.
When the bus reached Mahipalpur flyover at around 10.30 pm, the rapists allegedly tore off the clothes of both the girl and her friend and threw them out of the bus.
As they lay on the road, the victims were spotted by the maintenance staff of the flyover. They called the PCR van.
Confusion prevailed over the location. It took them nearly half an hour to reach the site. Both were then rushed to Safdarjung Hospital.
While the incident sparked outrage, the government seemed to be confused about the details. Apparently unaware that the bus has not yet been located, Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit went on to claim that the permit of the bus has been cancelled by the transport department. “I have been told by transport department that their licence has been cancelled. We will take all the necessary measures to ensure that such incidents don’t happen,” she told the media.
Parliamentary secretary of Delhi CM and Congress MLA Mukesh Sharma told this newspaper that Ms Dikshit had called Union home minister and expressed her concerns.
“Ms Dikshit has also warned the commissioner of police to arrest the culprits soon and prevent any such cases in future. She said that city government will provide all legal aid to the victim and a fast-track court will be set up for rape cases in the national capital,” Mr Sharma said.
The BJP attacked the government with senior party leader Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi saying that “this incident will be replaced with another incident after few days. I believe that Delhi’s law and order and security issues are handled carelessly by the government.”
Women and child development minister Kiran Walia said the government would seriously work on installing CCTV cameras inside buses.
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