Chandigarh/New Delhi: A 13-year-old girl died and her mother was seriously injured near Moga town in Punjab when they were forced to jump out of a moving bus to escape men molesting them. The incident created a political storm in Punjab that also resonated in Lok Sabha.
In her statement, the injured woman has alleged that she and her daughter were molested by the conductor, cleaner and another person on a running bus and then “thrown off”.
The air-conditioned bus was operated by Orbit Bus Service, owned by Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal.
The 35-year-old woman, wife of a farmer, was travelling with her daughter and minor son in the bus from Moga to Baghapurana when some youth started harassing the girl. When her mother complained to the driver and conductor, they laughed it off and the conductor reportedly joined the youth.
The woman then asked the driver to stop the bus but he increased the speed instead. Fearing that they would be sexually assaulted, the woman and her daughter jumped off the bus. Her son was left on the bus. Passers-by took them to the Moga civil hospital where the girl was declared brought dead.
Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal admitted that the bus belonged to a company owned by his family, but said he personally “never took interest” in its affairs nor ever visited its office.
Describing the incident as “very unfortunate and sad”, Mr Badal said, “Law will take its course.”
