New Delhi [India], September 1 (ANI): Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday slammed the Centre as well as the governments of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh over the alleged gang-rape of a 17-year-old girl over a distance of 47 kilometres in a sleeper bus from Greater Noida to Delhi.
The Congress leader said that the failure of the police to stop, at any checkpoint, the bus that had curtains drawn around its sleeper berths reflected the government's failure to protect women even years after the 2012 Nirbhaya gang rape incident in the national capital.
In a post on X, Gandhi wrote, "Delhi NCR has become so unsafe for women that a minor girl was gang-raped for 47 kilometres in a sleeper bus from Greater Noida to Delhi. Astonishingly, neither the entire Delhi police nor the Noida police had the slightest inkling of it. This bus crossed the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, Delhi's Ring Road, the border all of it without being stopped even once at a single checkpoint."
दिल्ली NCR महिलाओं के लिए इतना असुरक्षित हो चुका है कि एक नाबालिग बच्ची के साथ एक स्लीपर बस में 47 किलोमीटर तक गैंगरेप हुआ - ग्रेटर नोएडा से दिल्ली तक।
हैरानी की बात है कि पूरी दिल्ली या नोएडा पुलिस को इसकी भनक तक नहीं लगी। यह बस नोएडा-ग्रेटर नोएडा एक्सप्रेसवे, दिल्ली का रिंग… pic.twitter.com/VqL9Xo264j
He pointed out that curtains were drawn over the bus seats so that no one could see what was happening inside, adding that the perpetrators had no fear of the administration.
"Curtains were drawn over the bus seats so no one could see what was happening inside. And the perpetrators had no fear of the administration whatsoever. Even after so many years since Nirbhaya, after so many such incidents, why are the rules for checking and monitoring such buses still not being followed? Those curtains weren't just drawn on that one bus--they're the result of curtains drawn year after year by the government over the administration's failures, leaving women unable even to take a safe journey in the country's capital," Gandhi added.
Questioning accountability, Gandhi added, "How many more women and girls will have to endure this before the central and state governments finally fix this system? Will there be any accountability for the Delhi Police under Amit Shah, or the UP Police under Adityanath? Not a chance -- this crime, too, will just have a curtain drawn over it."
The 17-year-old girl, who was on her way from Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh to Noida, has alleged that she was gang-raped inside a bus on the night of August 4, following which Delhi Police arrested the bus driver and conductor, officials said.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) North District Niharika Bhatt said the girl approached Kashmiri Gate ISBT police station after being dropped on Ring Road by the accused. Due to heavy rain and darkness, the girl had reportedly got off near Pari Chowk in Greater Noida, from where she boarded the sleeper bus. She was reportedly abandoned near the Kashmere Gate bus terminal in Delhi.
"During questioning, it was revealed that she was travelling from Mainpuri, UP, to a relative's house in Sector 63, Noida. The rape occurred en route between Pari Chowk (Greater Noida) and Sector 63, Noida," Bhatt told ANI.
Police registered a case, arranged her medical examination and traced the bus with the help of CCTV footage, leading to the arrest of both accused within a few hours. The sleeper bus has been seized and is undergoing forensic examination.
DCP Bhatt further said that with the help of CCTV footage, police traced the bus and arrested the two accused within a few hours. The teenager was produced before the Child Welfare Committee and, as per its directions, was handed over to her father.
The investigation into the case is underway.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken cognisance of the incident and issued notices to the authorities concerned. (ANI)
