The 30-year-old from Delhi’s Pitampura, who is desperate to return home to her three young daughters, says a simple question at Saraswati Vihar bus station changed the course of her night.
Standing alone at a bus stop after midnight, she approached a private bus to ask a man inside for the time. Minutes later, she was allegedly gang-raped inside the moving car by two men, police said.
She asked to come inside
The woman told police that she had gone to her brother’s house in Sultanpuri earlier that day to help him shift the house. Late at night, while returning home, she managed to get an e-rickshaw up to Saraswati Vihar on the Outer Ring Road.
“I was standing at the bus stop when this private bus stopped,” she said. “I asked a man who was standing inside what time it was. He asked me to get on the bus and talk to him. So, I took the bus.”
According to police, moments after entering, the bus began to move. The man allegedly pushed her into the back of the car and raped her while it was moving.
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“My children are waiting for me”
The woman said she repeatedly begged the accused to let her go.
“I told them that I will not take any action against you. Please let me go. I have three children waiting for me at home,” she told HT.
She also alleged that when the bus reached near Nangloi railway station, the vehicle was parked and the driver also raped her.
“When they reached near Nangloi railway station, they stopped the bus and then the driver also raped me,” she said.
After the assault, she said she continued to beg the men to release her.
“I told them that what happened happened and I would not take any action against them. That’s why they released me. Then I called the police,” she said.
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Two accused were arrested
Police identified the accused as Umesh Kumar and Ramendra Kumar, both in their late 30s and from Uttar Pradesh. Officials said that the two men were arrested and transferred to judicial custody.
By the time police arrived at the scene, Ramendra had allegedly fled with two or three other men, while Umesh was still there, investigators said.
Police immediately detained Umesh, while the woman – who was bleeding – was taken to a government hospital in Pitampura for a medical examination.
Doctors reportedly advised her to go to hospital, but she refused, saying: “I can’t because my husband is sick and my daughters are waiting for me.”
The woman lives with her husband and three daughters, aged between four, six and nine.
The curtains, tinted windows, and tracking device are missing
The case also raised questions about the implementation of transport safety rules introduced after the 2012 Delhi gangster case.
In 2012, the Supreme Court banned the use of black films and other materials such as curtains or nets on vehicle windows. Later, in 2016, the Federal Ministry of Road Transport made vehicle location tracking devices and emergency buttons mandatory in all public service vehicles.
Police said on Thursday that both features were missing from the bus involved in the case.
Investigators added that both defendants had valid permits obtained by the bus company to operate interstate buses.
(With inputs from Himani Bhandari)
