14 years later, Delhi bus rape revives horrific memories of Nirbhaya case

NBetimes 14 years after the Nirbhaya gang up assault shook the rural area and forced wholesale changes in India’s rape laws, another alleged sexual assault inside a moving bus in Delhi has revived the horrors of 2012.On Monday night, a 30-year-old woman was returning home from work and reached the B-block bus stand in the Saraswati Vihar area, when the investigators said men inside a Bihar-registered sleeper bus allegedly raped her as the vehicle continued moving through the streets of Delhi.The incident bears stark reminder of December, 2012, when “Nirbhaya”, a medical student boarded a private bus in Munirka and was brutally raped. The 23-year-old was assaulted by six men inside the moving bus as it drove across south Delhi. The woman later died of her injuries at a hospital in Singapore.Opposition says ‘a repetition of Nirbhaya’AAP MP Sanjay Singh drew parallels between the two incidents, saying, “A gang rape inside a moving bus, a repetition of the Nirbhaya case… Is this the state of security in the national capital? Is this the safety being provided to women and girls?”The Nirbhaya case sparked massive protests across country. In the years that followed, both the Centre and the Delhi government rolled out a series of measures aimed at protecting women from violence. But the latest incident has once again raised doubts over how effective those safeguards have really been on the ground.Asking time turned into horrorThe woman, who works at a factory in Mangolpuri and lives with her family in Pitampura, told police that a sleeper buss stopped near the bus stand. When she asked a man standing near the vehicle for the time, he allegedly gestured for her to come closer before forcibly pulling her inside the bus.Police said the bus then continued moving for several kilometres towards Nangloi while two men allegedly sexually assaulted her inside the vehicle.A police officer involved in the probe said the sleeper bus had curtains covering its windows, making it difficult for outsiders to see inside the vehicle.Abandoned near Nangloi Metro stationInvestigators said the bus eventually stopped near Nangloi Metro station, where the accused allegedly abandoned the woman before fleeing.She later contacted police, following which officers reached the spot and shifted her to Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital for medical examination.Police have registered an FIR under gang rape charges and relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023.Police said the two accused — identified as driver Umesh and conductor Ramendra — have been arrested and sent to judicial custody.(With inputs from Hemani Bhandari)