Five arrested for gang raping minor in Uttarakhand roadways bus in Dehradun ISBT
Monday, 19 AUGUST 2024 | PNS | DEHRADUN
Police arrested five men on Sunday on charges of raping a minor girl at the Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) in Dehradun in the wee hours of August 13. The accused were detained following a detailed investigation, during which their involvement in the crime was confirmed, the Dehradun senior superintendent of police Ajai Singh said. He informed that as per the interrogation, the incident took place in a bus with registration number UK 07 PA 5299, belonging to the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC). Three of the accused have been identified as Haridwar residents Dharmendra Kumar (32), the driver of the bus in which the girl was reportedly raped, the conductor of the bus Devendra (52) and the driver of another bus Rajpal (57). The other two accused are Rajesh Kumar Sonkar (38), a resident of Patelnagar in Dehradun and cashier at the bus station and driver, Ravi Kumar (34), a resident of Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh. Singh said that the accused Devendra revealed during the interrogation that he met the minor girl at the Kashmiri Gate Station in Delhi, where she was seeking information about a bus to Punjab. Devendra reportedly persuaded her to accompany him to Dehradun, promising to arrange her travel to Punjab via Paonta Sahib. Once in Dehradun, after all passengers had disembarked, Devendra, along with bus driver Dharmendra, raped the girl inside the bus, the SSP said. He further informed two other bus drivers Rajpal and Ravi, learned about the incident and also raped the minor girl. Later, Devendra told about the girl to Rajesh while depositing money. Rajesh then raped the girl inside the bus as well, Singh added. The SSP said that the police are continuing their investigation, ensuring that all evidence is secured to build a strong case against the accused. The forensic teams have also collected evidence from the UTC bus where the incident allegedly happened.
Talking about why the case was registered on August 17 when the incident occurred late on the intervening night of August 12 and 13, the SSP said that the minor initially appeared normal to the authorities. He said that the girl was spotted sitting on a bench at a platform of ISBT late at night on August 12/13. A security guard alerted the childline helpdesk at ISBT and the team approached the girl, who appeared normal at the time and provided limited information about herself, stating that her parents were deceased. The girl was subsequently sent to a child welfare home by childline as she appeared to be in a stable condition at that time. “During the initial counselling by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), the girl mentioned being from Moradabad but also provided conflicting statements, sometimes claiming to be from Punjab. The multiple inconsistencies in her statements raised concerns about her mental state, leading the counselling team to further probe the matter. She reportedly talked about the rape incident on the fourth counselling session, prompting the CWC to immediately notify the police on Saturday. The police detained two accused that led to the arrest of all five accused in the case,” the SSP said.
