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Journalism of Courage
Delhi bus gangrape: Accused’s DNA matched samples, crucial for water-tight case, say cops
Police have said the alleged sexual assault took place as the bus moved towards Delhi.
The suspected sleeper bus after a 16-year-old Class 11 student was allegedly gang-raped inside it, in Delhi's Kashmere Gate area. (Special arrangement photo)
The DNA samples of the two men accused of raping a 17-year-old in a moving bus last month have matched the samples recovered from the bus and the girl’s clothes, according to the chargesheet filed by the Delhi Police in the case. This makes scientific evidence obtained during the girl’s medical examination and forensic evidence crucial to the case, as per the investigators. A total of 51 witnesses, including the minor’s cousin whose house she was going to, her parents and the staff at repair centre that the accused visited before the alleged assault, apart from investigating officers, have been named in the chargesheet, said officers.
The Delhi Police filed a 398-page chargesheet in the case on September 18. A city court took cognisance of it on September 24, officials familiar with the proceedings said. Biological samples, including semen and hair strands, were collected during the investigation and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for examination. Police had sought an expedited report as they prepared the case for trial.
Officers said forensic evidence was the first and one of the key pieces of evidence relied upon by police in building what they described as a ‘watertight case’.
The girl was allegedly gang-raped inside a moving sleeper bus on August 4 as it travelled nearly 47 km from Greater Noida to Delhi’s Kashmere Gate in August. On Monday, the Supreme Court took suo motu cognizance of the case, expressed anguish over the matter, and said, “One cannot help but draw painful parallels to the 2012 Nirbhaya case, calling into question whether systemic law enforcement mechanisms have made any meaningful progress in the decade since then.
Sources also said the minor maintained her statement throughout the investigation, including in her statement recorded under Section 164 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. Her statement corroborated the account she had given to police on the first day of the crime, sources said.
The case
The incident took place on August 4. The teenager allegedly boarded the bus at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida.
According to her statement to the police, the girl had told the bus driver and conductor that she wanted to go to Noida and was told that the bus was headed in that direction.
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After boarding, she realised that there were no other passengers and attempted to get off but the conductor allegedly pulled her back inside.
Police have said the alleged sexual assault took place as the bus moved towards Delhi. The girl was allegedly abandoned in Kashmere Gate after the sexual assault and she approached the local police station.
Police said considering the sensitive nature of the complaint, the minor’s medical examination was carried out and the case registered without jurisdictional delay.
Using CCTV footage, they traced the bus to a parking area in Timarpur and arrested the men — bus driver Kuldeep (39) and conductor Sandeep (26), both hailing from Kanpur — within four hours.
Red flags found during probe
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Police investigation traced the route of the bus through Greater Noida, Noida and Delhi and found that the vehicle was allegedly not stopped for a safety or compliance check during the journey.
Investigators found that the bus had 11 pending traffic challans — seven of them issued in July — for offences relating to speed-limit devices and permit violations.
Police also found that the two men had been hired without police verification. The bus’s CCTV camera was also found to be non-functional, while heavy curtains covered its windows.
Investigators had further examined whether safety mechanisms such as GPS or vehicle-tracking systems and panic buttons were installed and functional at the time of the incident.
© The Indian Express Pvt Ltd
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