PATNA: A 17-year-old girl was gang-raped on a bus behind Bettiah bus stand in West Champaran on Tuesday afternoon. Four persons have been arrested in this connection.
The girl was waiting at the bus stand to board a bus to Patna. The bus driver told her that it would go to Patna in a few minutes and she hopped on it, SDPO (Bettiah) Mukul Parimal Pandey said. The SDPO said the girl was offered a spiked cold drink, following which she fell unconscious.
"The bus plies daily between Patna and Bettiah. It had returned to Bettiah bus stand on Tuesday afternoon. All passengers had left the bus. It was scheduled to start its return journey for Patna in the next two hours. As the khalasi (helper-cum-cleaner) told her that it would start for Patna in the next few minutes, she boarded the bus. One of the bus staff offered her a bottle of cold drink mixed with sedatives.
As she felt sleepy, the driver took the bus to the secluded backside of the stand where four persons raped her," the SDPO told TOI over phone on Wednesday while quoting the victim's statement to the police.
4 arrested in Bettiah case
“A fter committing the crime, all four accused locked the girl inside the bus and fled. When the girl regained consciousness, she started thumping the windows from inside, drawing attention of some passengers passing by.” “A police team reached the spot and rescued the girl, who narrated her ordeal,” Pandey said.
The bus conductor and khalasi were arrested on late Tuesday evening while the driver and the khalasi of another bus, who was partner in the crime, were arrested on Wednesday from different parts of Bettiah town, the SDPO said.
He said the girl was sent to a government hospital for her medical examination. All the accused would be examined medically to verify the rape charge. The SDPO said an FIR was lodged under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act with Mahila police station on the basis of the victim’s statement.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
