17-year-old girl gang-raped on moving sleeper bus after seeking help in Greater Noida

A 17-year-old girl seeking help after leaving home was gang-raped on a moving sleeper bus.

NEW DELHI: A 17-year-old girl’s search for help after leaving home following a tiff with her parents allegedly ended in a nightmare inside a moving sleeper bus, where two men offered to take her “your way” before allegedly gang-raping her and abandoning her around 30km away near Kashmere Gate. The teenager had left her home in Mainpuri, Uttar Pradesh, and planned to travel to Noida Sector 63 to meet her cousin and uncle. On the night of Aug 4, she reached Greater Noida's Pari Chowk but reportedly got off at the wrong spot amid heavy rain and darkness. Stranded and searching for help, she signalled an empty sleeper bus passing through the area. The driver and conductor stopped and allegedly told her that they were headed towards Noida Sector 63, allowing her to board the vehicle. What the girl did not know, police said, was that the bus was not operating on any passenger route at the time. The two accused — driver Kuldeep and conductor Sandeep, both from Kanpur — had allegedly been instructed to take the vehicle for repairs. The bus had been at a workshop in Surajpur since July 27 because of a malfunctioning sensor and was taken out on Aug 4 for further repairs in Timarpur, according to the travel company's manager. As soon as the bus began moving, the conductor allegedly started making advances towards the teenager. Police said the two men sexually assaulted her inside the moving sleeper bus as it travelled from Pari Chowk towards Noida Sector 63, with the driver and conductor allegedly taking turns at the wheel. “The accused stopped and told her the bus was headed towards Noida Sector 63 and allowed her to get in,” a senior police officer said. DCP (North) Niharika Bhatt said both men sexually assaulted the girl inside the moving bus and threatened to kill her when she resisted. The assault allegedly took place over a stretch of around 30km between Pari Chowk and Noida Sector 63. Curtains covering the bus windows meant that nothing inside the vehicle was visible from the road. After reaching the Noida side, the bus continued towards Delhi. The accused allegedly abandoned the teenager on Ring Road near Kashmere Gate, apparently believing that taking her far away from the alleged crime scene would make it harder to link them to the offence. The girl then approached police and reported the incident. Delhi Police took cognisance of the case after the complaint was filed in the capital, even though the alleged assault took place in Noida. Investigators traced the accused to Timarpur, where both were found resting inside the bus and arrested within hours of the complaint. The UP-registered sleeper bus has been seized and sent for forensic examination, while police have also collected CCTV footage from along the route taken by the vehicle. The chargesheet in the case is likely to be filed this week, police said. The teenager was later produced before the Child Welfare Committee and handed over to her father in compliance with its directions. The case has also raised fresh questions over private buses operating across Delhi-NCR and the safety of passengers, particularly women travelling alone. The bus involved in the case was registered in Firozabad in April and had an all-India permit, according to Noida assistant regional transport officer Udit Narayan Pandey. However, it was being operated by a Noida-based travel company. Private buses and shuttles have increasingly filled gaps in public transport across NCR, often picking up passengers from informal stops in Greater Noida, Noida and Delhi. While registration, valid permits and licences are mandatory, police verification of drivers and conductors is also required — a provision that officials have acknowledged is not always effectively enforced. The Delhi Commission for Women has taken suo motu cognisance of the incident and directed that the investigation be expedited, seeking an action-taken report within seven days.