In the Indian state of Uttarakhand, the “Land of Gods”, a teenage girl was raped by five men on a State Roadways bus travelling from the capital Delhi. The heinous incident, reminiscent of the Nirbhaya case of 2012, took place on the nights of August 12 and 13 at the Interstate Bus Terminus (ISBT) in Dehradun. According to reports, the victim of the gang rape is a minor, a 15-year-old possibly “mentally disturbed” girl from Moradabad in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

This disturbing crime occurred just days after the rape and murder of a doctor-in-training in Calcutta, West Bengal, shocked India as protests continue to rock the country.

According to reports, five men, including two bus drivers, were arrested on Sunday (August 18) for gang raping the underage girl.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Dehradun SSP Ajay Singh said, “On August 13, child helpline 1098 received information that a girl was sitting in a shop and there was also a person there who looked suspicious… 1098 sent its team, questioned the person and took the girl to Bal Niketan for counselling…”

After two to three days of counseling, the victim informed the police that she had been sexually abused by five men named Dharmendra Kumar (32), Devendra (52), Ravi Kumar (34), Rajpal (57) and Rajesh Kumar Sonkar (38).

A case was registered under Section 70(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and 5G/6 of the POCSO Act.

“A bus driver from Bhagwanpur is the main accused in this incident and charges have been filed against him,” Singh said.

“Another driver, a cleaner, a street sweeper and a cashier were involved. All five have been identified and arrested. All the accused are residents of Majra, Buggawala and Bhagwanpur,” he said, adding, “The main accused said he saw the girl wandering around at Kashmere Gate in Delhi and told her to get on the bus.”

Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chief Sarojini told India Today, “On the morning of the 13th, the girl was found in a disoriented state between 2:00 and 2:30 am.”

“The girl appeared to be mentally unstable. There were no visible external injuries or bleeding, but we cannot confirm whether there were any internal injuries. She was later taken to a social center.”

She has been medically examined and a report is awaited. In addition, the bus in which the heinous crime allegedly took place and another bus have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team for examination.

SSP Singh told the press that a security guard of a shop on Platform 1 of Dehradun Bus Station called 1098 after spotting the victim.

“The security guard called 1098, but the girl did not give her name and only said that she was from Patiala. She also said that she had no parents. We were told that she seemed to be mentally disturbed,” said SSP Singh.

During counselling, the girl told the police that she was from Moradabad and was travelling from Delhi to Dehradun at the time of the crime.

“The information about the location of the incident is not clear, but she stated that five people raped her one after another,” police said.

(With contributions from agencies)