Delhi bus gang rape: 398-page charge sheet mentions semen and hair strands as key evidence against 2 | Delhi News
NEW DELHI: Delhi Police have filed a 398-page chargesheet against a sleeper bus driver and conductor accused of gang-raping a minor during a journey from Greater Noida to Delhi in August, with biological evidence recovered from the bus, including semen samples and hair strands, forming a key part of the case.The chargesheet also highlights multiple safety and regulatory violations by the vehicle, including a non-functional CCTV camera and absence of mandatory safety features.The chargesheet was filed before a city court on September 18, and the court took cognisance of it on September 24, police said.
Minor allegedly assaulted inside sleeper bus
The incident allegedly took place on the night of August 4 when the minor, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, boarded the bus in Greater Noida after being told that it was headed towards Noida Sector 63, where she wanted to go.According to police, she realised after boarding that there were no other passengers and tried to get off. The conductor allegedly stopped her from leaving and locked the door.The bus then travelled towards Delhi, where the minor was allegedly assaulted inside the vehicle before being dropped near the Kashmere Gate bus terminal. She subsequently approached police and filed a complaint.Police said they traced the bus and arrested the driver and conductor soon after.
CCTV trail leads police to accused
Multiple police teams examined CCTV footage along the route and traced the bus to a parking area in Timarpur within hours, leading to the arrest of driver Kuldeep and conductor Sandeep, both residents of Kanpur.The chargesheet cites 10 police personnel, doctors and others as witnesses.During forensic examination of the bus, investigators recovered biological evidence, including alleged semen samples and hair strands. The samples were sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for examination.
Bus had 11 pending challans, no panic button
The investigation also brought to light several safety and regulatory lapses involving the bus.The vehicle had 11 pending traffic challans, including seven issued in July for alleged overspeeding.Investigators also found that the bus’s CCTV camera was non-functional and that curtains had been installed on its windows.The vehicle lacked safety features including a panic button and a vehicle tracking system, police said.Police further said the two accused had allegedly been employed without police verification.
Supreme Court takes suo motu cognisance
The case has brought back memories of the 2012 Nirbhaya incident, in which a 23-year-old physiotherapy intern was brutally raped and tortured inside a bus before being dumped on a road.The Supreme Court on Monday took suo motu cognisance of news reports about the sleeper bus incident and other crimes against minor girls and women across Delhi-NCR, observing that such cases underline a systematic failure on the part of law enforcement authorities.A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K Vinod Chandran said one could not help but draw painful parallels with the 2012 Nirbhaya case, raising questions over whether systemic law enforcement mechanisms had made any meaningful progress in the decade since then.(With PTI inputs)
