Delhi Police’s arrest of two men for allegedly gang-raping a 16-year-old girl in Greater Noida has sparked a jurisdictional row, with the Uttar Pradesh Police claiming they were never informed despite the crime falling under their region.
Shortly after the bus began moving, the conductor allegedly behaved inappropriately with the girl before he and the driver sexually assaulted her. The two men allegedly threatened to kill her when she resisted, the police added. After the incident, the survivor approached the Kashmere Gate police station, following which the police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on charges of gang-rape, kidnapping, and assault and provisions under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The crime took place on August 4 on a moving sleeper bus that travelled for 47 kilometres, from Pari Chowk in Greater Noida to Ring Road near Kashmere Gate Inter-State Bus Terminal, where the survivor was dropped off by the accused driver and the conductor. Following a complaint by the survivor, a Delhi Police team analysed CCTV footage and traced the bus to a parking area in Timarpur, around 15 minutes from Kashmere Gate, where the men were arrested within four hours, the police said. The conductor allegedly told her that the bus was headed towards Sector 63, prompting her to board it.
In a statement, the force said the alleged incident took place “in the Gautam Buddh Nagar Police Commissionerate area” and that it “was not communicated or reported to the Noida Police by the Delhi Police prior to today”. In her complaint, the survivor told police that she accidentally got off at Pari Chowk after darkness fell and it began raining. She saw a bus approaching and signalled for it to stop, an officer familiar with the investigation said. The police said there were no other passengers on the bus at the time of the incident.
As the gangrape came to light on Monday, officials of Greater Noida police claimed the incident was not reported to them before the Delhi Police publicly disclosed the arrests.
