INDIA: A new molestation incident on a bus in Delhi has been brought to officials' attention hours after the body of a 23-year-old rape victim was cremated

Record ID: 1372121

  • Title: INDIA: A new molestation incident on a bus in Delhi has been brought to officials' attention hours after the body of a 23-year-old rape victim was cremated
  • Date: 30th December 2012
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) LEGISLATOR AND DELHI BHARATIYA JANATA PARTY CHIEF, VIJENDER GUPTA, SAYING: "The government makes false promises and tries to whitewash and brush away an incident after it has occurred. The Delhi Transport Minister had said that home guards would be deployed on buses, but I want to know from the government where these security arrangements were when this fresh incident occurred last night?" (SOUNDBITE) (Hindi) DELHI TRANSPORT MINISTER, RAMAKANT GOSWAMI, SAYING: "Yes a molestation case has been brought to light which has attracted police action. We have also taken very strict action in the matter, by suspending the driver and two conductors including the one who misbehaved with the girl."
  • Embargoed: 14th January 2013 19:10
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA2VMOYHUZEDNX0YX5I691D0J6I
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A girl was molested on a bus in New Delhi on Sunday (December 30), witnesses said, in a case reminiscent of an earlier incident that eventually took the life of a 23-year-old woman.
    Passers-by and local residents who said they'd witnessed the incident rushed to the aid of the victim and took her to the police.

    "We saw what was happening and followed the bus. The driver offloaded seven to eight passengers at a stoppage and when we reached this placed to find the girl weeping. We thought about getting the bus stopped but were unable to do so as it sped away," said an eyewitness.
    Legislator and Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Vijender Gupta lashed out at the government and transport minister over the latest molestation incident.

    "The government makes false promises and tries to whitewash and brush away an incident after it has occurred. The Delhi Transport Minister had said that home guards would be deployed in buses, but I want to know from the government where these security arrangements were when this fresh incident occurred last night?," said Gupta.
    Shortly after the incident surfaced, the Transport Minister suspended the bus conductors and driver onboard during the molestation.

    "Yes a molestation case has been brought to light, which has attracted police action. We have also taken very strict action in the matter, by suspending the driver and two conductors including the one who misbehaved with the girl," said Ramakant Goswami, Delhi Transport Minister.
    Most rapes and other sex crimes in India go unreported and offenders are rarely punished, according to women's rights activists. But the brutality of the December 16 assault of a young medical student sparked public outrage and calls for better policing and harsher punishment for rapists.
    The gang rape case has received blanket coverage on cable television news channels. The victim, who died in a hospital in Singapore on Saturday (December 29), had not been identified but some Indian media called her "Amanat", an Urdu word meaning "treasure".
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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