The gang rape of a 16-year-old in the Delhi NCR region inside a sleeper bus has gained national attention, with Opposition leaders questioning the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) silence and lack of action by the Delhi Police.
The 16-year-old Class 11 student had boarded a sleeper bus in Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh on a rainy night earlier in August and was allegedly gang-raped by its conductor and driver and abandoned near Kashmere Gate, more than 40 kilometres away in Old Delhi. The crime, which brought back memories of the 2012 gang-rape and murder in Delhi known as the Nirbhaya case, took place on the night of August 4.
According to the police, the bus was on the move when the girl was raped as it travelled nearly 45 km without stopping, passing through several locations with closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras, police posts and barricades. The route largely comprised the Ring Road and highway, where police officers were deployed at the Noida-Delhi border points.
The sleeper berths inside the bus had company-fitted curtains, which allowed the accused to conceal their activities from people outside.
This crime, too, will have a curtain drawn over it: Rahul Gandhi
Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said it was astonishing that neither the Delhi Police nor the Noida Police had the slightest inkling of the crime while the minor girl was gang-raped for 47 kilometres.
“Curtains were drawn over the bus seats so no one could see what was happening inside. And the perpetrators had no fear of the administration whatsoever,” Gandhi said.
He questioned why even after so many years since the Nirbhaya case, several such incidents still take place. “Why are the rules for checking and monitoring such buses still not being followed?”
He said the curtains were not just drawn on that one bus — “they’re the result of curtains drawn year after year by the government over the administration’s failures, leaving women unable even to take a safe journey in the country’s capital.”
He asked if there would be any accountability for the Delhi Police under Amit Shah, or the UP Police under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. “This crime, too, will just have a curtain drawn over it.”
Vocal at Jantar Mantar, mute on gang-rape: Khera calls out Modi
“A Prime Minister who found plenty to say to the young women at Jantar Mantar has, so far, said nothing about the gang rape of a minor on a Delhi-NCR bus,” Congress leader Pawan Khera said.
Devoid of ethics, humanity or even a basic moral compass, Khera asked how “this man looks himself in the eye.”
In the state with the only woman CM: TMC
All India Trinamool Congress (AITC) on Monday, August 31, said that rape and sexual violence have become so normalised in “every single BJP-ruled state” that every day there seems to be another horrifying story. “Yet there is no sustained outrage. No marches. No protests,” TMC wrote on X.
The party said that when the ruling BJP is accused of garlanding convicted rapists and granting parole to those convicted of rape, there is only so much one can expect from them.
“And this happened in the state governed by India’s only woman Chief Minister Rekha Gupta,” TMC said. “Where is the outrage from those who claim to speak for women’s safety? What happened to all the tall claims of Nari Suraksha?”
TMC MP Mahua Moitra also questioned the silence of “Godi Media,” asking such news outlets to at least “try and stand on their knees.”
“16 year old is raped in a moving sleeper bus by driver and conductor between Noida & Delhi & left near Kashmere Gate. Both BJP ruled states. Hello GodiMedia – cat got your tongues? Come on, try & stand on your knees at least, please!” Moitra’s social media post read.
TMC leader Sagarika Ghose said the most unsafe city for women in India is under the triple engine government. “BJP at centre, BJP chief minister and BJP in local bodies,” she said.
CPI says such ‘brutal violence’ against women not taken seriously
Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Annie Raja said repeated cases of brutal violence against women keep taking place in Delhi and yet the government has taken no serious note of them. She demanded accountability from the Delhi government and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
“When such acts repeatedly happen, that means what? The government is not sincere. The central home ministry is responsible for law and order in Delhi and that Mr Amit Shah is not at all bothered about safeguarding the constitutional rights of women by ensuring safety and protection,” Raja said.
She said that despite there being several legislations preventing crimes against women, there is nobody to take it seriously and implement it so that the crimes can be prevented.
What were the thousands of police force doing then: CJP
Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) raised questions about Delhi Police, noting that not a single officer intervened to save the 16-year-old throughout the 45 km bus ride.
“When such an incident occurs, the question arises: what were the security forces — present in Delhi in thousands — actually doing? How many personnel were deployed when the protests were taking place at Jantar Mantar?” said CJP founder Abhijeet Dipke.
Why are these security forces not utilised for women’s safety, he asked. “Where do your tear gas shells vanish when an actual crime is committed?”
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