Five individuals, including the driver and conductor of a government bus, have been arrested in connection with the alleged gang-rape of a teenage girl at the Dehradun bus stand. The incident reportedly took place on August 12, and police were alerted on Saturday evening.
Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Ajay Singh confirmed that those arrested include Dharmendra Kumar (32), the bus driver, and Devendra (52), the conductor. The other accused are Rajpal (57), Ravi Kumar (34), and Rajesh Kumar Sonkar (38), who are bus drivers and a cashier, respectively.
According to police, the accused are:
- Dharmendra Kumar: Driver of the bus
- Devendra: Conductor of the bus
- Rajpal: Bus driver
- Ravi Kumar: Bus driver
- Rajesh Kumar Sonkar: Cashier at the Uttarakhand Roadways bus stand
The bus involved in the alleged rape has been impounded, and forensic teams are gathering evidence from the scene.
The incident came to light after the Dehradun Child Welfare Committee (CWC) discovered the victim, a girl aged 16-17, sitting alone at platform number 12 of the Interstate Bus Terminal (ISBT) late on August 12. The CWC sent her to Bal Niketan, a government girls’ home, for her protection. During counseling, the victim disclosed the rape, leading CWC member Pratibha Joshi to file a police complaint on Saturday evening.
Rape on Uttarakhand Bus
Based on the complaint, a case was registered at Patel Nagar police station under Section 70 (2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. SSP Singh formed a special police team to investigate and met with the victim to gather information.
Initial statements from the girl were inconsistent. She first claimed to be from Punjab but later admitted to being from Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh. She had traveled from Delhi to Dehradun, where the alleged assault took place. The girl had previously left home without informing her family, who had been involved in locating and bringing her back on multiple occasions.
During interrogation, Devendra said that he encountered the girl at Kashmiri Gate ISBT in Delhi, where she was seeking directions to Punjab. He suggested she take his bus to Dehradun, with plans to transfer to another bus later. Once the bus arrived in Dehradun and passengers disembarked, Devendra and Dharmendra Kumar raped her. Other drivers, Ravi and Rajpal, reportedly joined in, followed by Rajesh Kumar Sonkar, who raped the girl after being informed by Devendra.
The incident has sparked widespread outrage. Uttarakhand Pradesh Congress Committee President Karan Mahara condemned the assault, criticizing the state government for its handling of law and order and women’s safety. He drew attention to the recent alleged rape and murder of a nurse in Rudrapur, accusing the state of failing to instill fear among criminals.
In response, BJP state media in-charge Manveer Singh Chauhan defended the government’s actions, saying that measures are in place to ensure the safety of women. He accused the Congress of engaging in “insensitive politics” and highlighted the party’s failure to address similar issues elsewhere, such as the rape and murder of a doctor in West Bengal.