Uttarakhand police arrest five men, including two bus drivers, for gang-raping minor at ISBT Dehradun
DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand police have arrested five men, including two bus drivers, accused of gang-raping a minor girl. The incident occurred on a parked bus at Dehradun's ISBT bus station. This is the third such crime against women in the state within a month.
This incident further highlights the state's alarming rise in violent crimes. The Child Welfare Committee team rescued the minor from the bus station, exposing the incident.
SSP Dehradun, Ajay Singh told The New Indian Express, "The bus staff brought the minor girl from Delhi to Dehradun. Five men, including two bus drivers, a conductor, a cashier, and a sweeper, gang-raped her on the same bus. All five accused have been arrested."
Police sources disclosed that the Child Welfare Committee registered a case at the ISBT police outpost on Saturday, following which the police took swift action to probe the matter. The girl was revealed to be from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh, after a series of three counselling sessions.
According to police sources, a 16-year-old girl from Moradabad was found disoriented and frightened at the Dehradun ISBT bus station on the evening of August 13. Initially, the girl did not disclose any information, but during counselling, she revealed that she had been gang-raped in a parked bus. The girl had travelled from Punjab to Delhi, and then to Dehradun.
Chairperson Kusum Kandwal of the Uttarakhand State Commission for Women paid a personal visit to Balika Niketan on Sunday morning to enquire about the well-being of the victim girl.
Speaking to TNIE, Kusum Kandwal said, “After seeking detailed information from the SSP and District Probation Officer, I have directed immediate action against the culprits in this heinous crime. The incident has been treated with the highest level of seriousness and concern.”
Hemant Khanduri, PRO to SSP, told TNIE, "The five arrested accused in the gang-rape case are identified as Dharmendra Kumar, Rajpal, and Devendra (residents of Haridwar), Rajesh Kumar Sonkar (resident of Dehradun), and Ravi Kumar (resident of Farrukhabad)."
Uttarakhand Congress Vice President Suryakant Dhasmana lashed out at the government, saying, "Dehradun is becoming the rape capital of the state, with a string of heinous crimes like Bahadurpur, Rudrapur, Ankitaa Bhandari murder case, and Gangolihat, exposing the government's failure".
Notably, in August, four men were already arrested for physically exploiting a minor girl living with her grandparents in Pithoragarh's Gangolihat police
station area. On August 6, a man filed a complaint alleging his minor daughter was gang-raped by several individuals, SP Pithoragarh Rekha Yadav stated.