Teenage girl molested in DTC bus, attacker arrested

New Delhi : Amidst outrage in the capital over the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old who died, a teenaged girl was molested in a city bus by an off-duty conductor, Delhi Police said Sunday. The attacker was arrested, and has been dismissed from service along with two other bus staff.

“The incident was reported Saturday around 11 p.m. at Barakhamba Road in central Delhi,” said a senior police officer.

Police said a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) cluster bus on the Khayala-Jal Vihar route, heading towards Lajpat Nagar, was stopped at a police picket near Mandi House for checking when the 16-year-old girl was spotted crying. The bus had taken a different route due to the traffic diversions around India Gate.

When police officers asked her the reason, she complained that an off-duty conductor sitting in the bus first passed lewd comments on her and when she protested, beat her up.

“The officers deputed at check post arrested the accused,” said the officer.

“The accused, who has been identified as Ranjeet, sat in the bus to go to his home after his duty. Bus driver Prahlad Singh and the bus conductor Tejveer were detained by the police and later let off,” an officer told IANS.

The Delhi government, however, dismissed the driver and both the conductors after the matter came to light.

“We have dismissed all the three men in the case,” Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami told IANS.

Police said the family of the girl reesiding at Raghubir Nagar in west Delhi have been informed about the incident.

“The girl is now at a relative’s place in south Delhi,” the police officer said, citing a family member.