Teenager gang-raped at bus stand in India's Dehradun, police arrest five

A teenage girl was gang-raped at a bus stand in Indian city ofDehradun earlier this month, and the police on Sunday (Aug 18) arrested five people in connection with the crime.

Citing police officials, a report by the news agency PTI on Monday said that the incident occurred on August 12. The girl was raped inside aUttarakhand government bus after it arrived at the bus stand in Dehradun from Delhi.

Though the incident occurred on August 12, the police only got to know about it five days later.

The arrests

Speaking to PTI,Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP)Ajay Singh said that those arrested included the driver and the conductor of the bus.

The accused have been identified as Dharmendra Kumar (32) and Rajpal (57), both residents of Buggawala in Uttarakhand's Haridwar; Devendra (52), a resident of Bhagwanpur in Haridwar; Rajesh Kumar Sonkar (38), a resident of Patel Nagar in Dehradun; and Ravi Kumar (34), a resident of Nawabganj in Farrukhabad district of Uttar Pradesh.

SSP Singh said that Dharmendra Kumar was the driver of the bus whileDevendra was the conductor. Ravi Kumar and Rajpal were drivers of other buses while Sonkar was a cashier of the Uttarakhand Roadways posted at the bus stand.

Singh added that the bus used in the incident was impounded and a forensic team was collecting evidence from inside (the bus).

Victim found at bus terminal

PTI reported that the victim was aged 16-17. Police said on Sunday that the incidentcame to light after the Dehradun Child Welfare Committee (CWC) was informed that the girl was sitting alone at a platform of the Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT) late at night on August 12.

The CWCsent her to Bal Niketan, a government girls' home, for her safety. During counselling at the Niketan, she informed authorities about the gang rape, following which the CWC filed a complaint with the police on Saturday.

Based on the complaint, a case was registered at the Patel Nagar police station under section 70 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

SSP Singhinspected the area, formed a special police team to investigate the incident, and also met the victim and inquired about what happened.

The interrogation

Police told PTI that during the initial interrogation, the girl told officers that she was an orphan and was a resident of Punjab.

Later, she told them that she was a resident of Moradabad in Uttar Pradesh. She first went to Delhi from Moradabad and then took a bus from Kashmiri Gate in Delhi and to Dehradun, where she was gang-raped.

Police said the girl kept changing her statements initially, but on interrogation, she gave information about her family.

Police later contacted the victim's family and found out that her parents were alive.They were also told that the girl had fled her house in past also without informing anyone.

(With inputs from agencies)