Minor’s rape in bus: NCW Chairperson calls for strict punishment that would serve as deterrent

New Delhi:The National Commission for Women’s (NCW) Chairperson Vijaya Kishore Rahatkar on Wednesday urged the strictest punishment against the accused involved in the sexual assault of a minor in a moving bus to serve as a deterrent for other potential offenders.

A 16-year-old girl was gang-raped inside an empty sleeper bus by its driver and conductor in Greater Noida earlier this month, police said on Monday, adding that both accused have been arrested in connection with the case.

Speaking to IANS, Rahatkar condemned the incident. “The police are investigating the incident. We need to give them some time. Strict punishment should be given to the accused at the earliest, which can serve as a deterrent for the future, so that no one can even think of committing such an offence.”

Emphasising that society also has a responsibility towards women’s safety, she said: “There is law-and -order for the proper functioning of the state, and also there is a government system in place, but, having said that, the society’s mindset also needs to undergo a drastic change.”

The NCW Chairperson stated that the society needs to function in coordination with the law and administration, “rather than putting the onus of everything on the legal system”.

“Accused who commit such offences should face the pressure of exclusion from society; only then they might be deterred from indulging in such acts,” she added.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of reports that the minor girl was allegedly gang-raped in a moving sleeper bus in Greater Noida on August 4.

Observing that the contents of the news report, if true, raise serious issues of human rights violations, the apex human rights body has issued notices to the Police Commissioners of Delhi and Gautam Budh Nagar and the Superintendent of Police, Mainpuri, seeking a detailed report within two weeks.

The NHRC said the report should include the status of the investigation and details of compensation, if any, paid to the victim.

According to the media report carried on August 31, the girl, a resident of Mainpuri, had left home to visit her cousin in Noida’s Sector 63. She reportedly missed her stop and got down at Pari Chowk amid heavy rain and darkness. She subsequently boarded a sleeper bus, where the crime occurred, after the conductor allegedly told her that it was headed towards Sector 63.

IANS