Another Nirbhaya? 15-year-old ‘mentally disturbed’ girl gang-raped by five men on bus from Delhi to Dehradun

In India's Uttarakhand, the 'Land of Gods', a teenage girl has been ‘gangraped’ by five men on aState Roadways Buswhile travelling from the national capital Delhi. The heinous incident, a stark echo of the 2012 Nirbhaya case, took place on the intervening nightof August 12 and 13 at the interstate bus terminus (ISBT) in Dehradun. As per reports, the gangrape survivor is a minor, a 15-year-old possibly "mentally disturbed" girl hailing from Uttar Pradesh's Moradabad.

The disturbing crime comes just days after the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in West Bengal's Kolkata shocked India and as protests continue to rock the nation.

Five men arrested

Reports suggest that five men, including two bus drivers, were arrested on Sunday (August 18) for gang-raping the minor girl.

Talking to ANI news agency, Dehradun SSP Ajay Singh said, "On August 13, child helpline 1098 received information that a girl child was sitting at a shop and a person was also there who looked suspicious... 1098 sent their team, interrogated the person, and took the girl to Bal Niketan for counselling."

After 2-3 days of counselling, the victim informed the police that she was sexually assaulted by five men, identified as Dharmendra Kumar (32), Devendra (52), Ravi Kumar (34), Rajpal (57) and Rajesh Kumar Sonkar (38).

A case has been registered under sections 70(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and 5G/6 of the POCSO Act.

"A bus driver from Bhagwanpur is the main accused in this incident, and a case has been registered against him," said Singh.

"Another driver, a cleaner, a sweeper, and a cashier were involved. All five have been identified and arrested. All the accused are residents of Majra, Buggawala and Bhagwanpur," he said, adding, "The main accused said that he saw the girl roaming at Kashmere Gate in Delhi and told her to sit on the bus."

How is the victim?

Child Welfare Committee (CWC) supervisor Sarojini told India Today, "On the morning of the 13th, between 2:00 and 2:30 am, the girl was found in a disoriented state."

"The girl appeared mentally unstable. There were no visible external injuries or bleeding, but we cannot confirm if there are any internal injuries. She was later sent to a welfare centre."

She underwent a medical examination and a report is awaited. Furthermore, the bus in whichthe heinous crime allegedly took place, plus another bus, have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for investigation.

SSP Singh told the press that a guard at a shop on platform number 1 of the bus terminus in Dehradun called 1098 after spotting the victim.

"The guard called 1098, but the girl did not tell her name and was only saying that she was from Patiala. She also said that she did not have parents. We were told that she seemed mentally disturbed," said SSP Singh.

During counselling, the girl told the police that she was from Moradabad, and was travelling from Delhi to Dehradun when the crime happened.

"The information about the place of incident is not clear, but she revealed that five people had raped her one by one," the police said.

(With inputs from agencies)