A woman was allegedly gang-raped for nearly two hours inside a moving sleeper bus in Delhi before being thrown onto a deserted road, police said. The private bus, registered in Bihar, operates on the Delhi-Bihar route.
The incident, which police said took place on the night of May 11, has drawn comparisons with the 2012 Nirbhaya case due to similarities in the manner of the assault inside a moving bus.
According to police, the woman later managed to contact the police and informed them about the incident. CCTV footage from nearby areas was scanned, following which the bus was identified, seized and two accused were arrested.
Delhi Police said the accused — identified as driver Umesh and helper Ramendra — were produced before a court and sent to judicial custody. Investigation is underway.
Woman allegedly pulled into bus near Saraswati Vihar
Police said the woman was returning home from work when a sleeper bus stopped near the Saraswati Vihar bus stop in northwest Delhi.
According to media reports and the victim’s statement, she asked a man standing near the bus door for the time. Instead of responding, he allegedly pulled her inside the bus by force.
Police said the bus was then driven towards Nangloi. The woman alleged that the two accused sexually assaulted her inside the moving vehicle over a distance of around 7 kilometres.
Around 2 am, the accused allegedly abandoned her on a deserted stretch of road and fled.
The moving bus in which the woman was gangraped is from Bihar.
Delhi Police has seized the bus.
FIR registered at Rani Bagh police station
Delhi Police said the woman was forcibly taken into the bus from the Rani Bagh area. An FIR was later registered at Rani Bagh police station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
Police said the victim is married and has three children. Her medical examination was conducted after the complaint was filed.
The bus used in the incident has also been seized.
Curtains and closed windows prevented anyone from noticing incident
During preliminary investigation, police found that curtains had been installed inside the sleeper bus, blocking visibility from outside.
Officials said the air-conditioned bus had sealed windows, which may have prevented the victim’s screams from being heard outside.
A forensic team examined the bus and collected evidence from the vehicle.
Delhi Police has registered a case at Rani Bagh Police Station.
Bus registered in Bihar’s Gopalganj
Police said the bus involved in the case bears registration number BR-28P-3949 and is registered with the Gopalganj RTO in Bihar. It is operated by Royal Travels & Cargo Company and runs regularly between Delhi and Bihar.
The accused have been booked under provisions related to gangrape and other offences under the BNS.
Incident revives memories of 2012 Nirbhaya case
The case has revived memories of the December 2012 gangrape and murder of a 23-year-old paramedic student, widely known as Nirbhaya.
In that case, the woman was brutally assaulted inside a moving bus in South Delhi and later thrown onto the roadside. She died of her injuries on December 29, 2012, at a hospital in Singapore.
Four convicts in the case were executed at Delhi’s Tihar Jail on March 20, 2020.
