Bengaluru: Close on the heels of a gang rape on a 22-year-old BPO staffer in a Tempo Traveller by two drivers in Madivala, a 19-year-old woman was raped by a driver in a moving mini bus in Sulibele near Hoskote on the city outskirts on Thursday.
Going by the veracity of the case, the police immediately swung into action and arrested two men in this connection within a few hours after the case was registered. The accused have been identified as Ravi, 21, the bus driver and a native of Shivamogga, and Manjunath, 23, from Chintamani in Chikkaballapura.
The victim from Satyavara village was working as a house keeping staff in a nursing home in Hoskote. On Wednesday around 7.15 am, she was waiting for bus at Hastigala to go to Hoskote, which is more than 15 kilometres. Meanwhile a mini bus bearing Andhra Pradesh registration number (AP-02-V-4213) approached her and she boarded it. There were reportedly no other passengers in the bus.
As soon as she got inside, the driver, Ravi, asked Manjunath, the cleaner, to drive the vehicle. “While the bus started moving, Ravi allegedly proposed to the girl that he loved her but she objected. Ravi was infuriated and closed all the windows of the bus and allegedly raped the girl in the moving vehicle. After some minutes, around 8 am, the bus stopped at Thimmasandra near Lakkondanahalli, close to Hoskote, where Ravi pushed her out of the bus and sped away. The victim took another bus and reached a hospital and availed treatment. Though she claimed that she had severe headache, the doctors examined her and learnt that she was sexually assaulted. Then the hospital staff informed the police about the incident late in the evening,” the police said.
Read: Bengaluru: 19-year-old allegedly raped in moving bus
Bengaluru Rural SP Ramesh B told Deccan Chronicle, “The victim told us that she had commuted in the same bus twice or thrice recently and she was acquainted with the driver and cleaner. She informed that the bus took the same route everyday. Based on her statement the police swung into action and also gathered information from the locals. Police teams were put on the job on Friday morning and the accused duo was nabbed, and the bus was seized,”
Later, Ravi was subjected to medical tests. They are said to be vagabonds and were staying in a choultry in Sulibele. “Preliminary investigations revealed that the bus is registered in the Chittoor in Andhra Pradesh, in the name of Mastan Vali.
It is suspected that the bus was sold to a person in Sulibele and was reportedly attached to a factory in Hoskote to ferry its workers.
It is being investigated,” the police added. The victim, who had failed in SSLC exams, was working in the hospital from the last nine months. Her father is an agriculturist and she is the third daughter. During the questioning, Ravi has reportedly told the police that he knew the victim from the last one year and he was in love with her. Sulibele police have registered a case and are further investigating.
Database on criminals?
Home Minister G. Parameshwar addressing senior police officers on Friday reiterated the need for maintaining efficient database of crimes and criminals in their jurisdictions.
With the increasing number of crimes against women, he directed the officers to be in contact with IT/BT and other companies that offer transport to women employees, stressing the importance of background verification of drivers.
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