Rohtak sisters’ award on hold; bus driver and conductor reinstated

Chandigarh: Days after they hogged limelight for thrashing three youths in a bus, the Haryana government on Thursday kept on hold its decision to reward the two sisters for bravery, pending an inquiry, following a controversy over the incident.

The decision came after the case took a new turn when four co-passengers of the bus, from Aasan village, the native hamlet of the sisters, gave an affidavit in Sadar police station at Rohtak claiming that the boys were innocent.

A co-passenger who identified herself as Bimla claimed that the boys never eve teased the girls. “It was a fight over seat in which the boys did not say anything to the girls. Instead they jumped from the bus to get themselves free from attack by the girls who later followed them,” she said.

Also, another video surfaced showing the two sisters beating up a youth in a park for allegedly teasing them.

“The award announced for the two sisters by the state government which was to be bestowed upon them on Republic day had been ‘put on hold pending an inquiry’ in the case,” Chief Minister’s Officer on Special duty Jawahar Yadav said.

“The decision whether the girls would be rewarded or not would be taken after thorough investigation of the incident,” he added.

The decision to honour the two sisters with a reward on Republic Day and suspension of the bus driver and conductor were announced shortly after a video of the girls thrashing three boys in a moving bus went viral on social media and news channels.

Haryana government reinstates bus driver, conductor:

The Haryana government on Thursday reinstated the driver and conductor of the roadways bus in which two college-going sisters were allegedly eve-teased by three youths, following their suspension earlier this week.

The Director General of Haryana Transport department had issued the orders to suspend the two on Monday, an official had said.

Within hours of the video of the girls thrashing three boys being highlighted on social media and news channels the suspension orders were given by Haryana roadways general manager. The two sisters were allegedly eve-teased by three men in the bus on Rohtak-Sonipat road last Friday. The sisters had confronted three eve-teasers with one of the girls even hitting the youths with her belt, even as passengers stayed mute.