Teenaged girl raped in moving bus near Bengaluru

A 19-year old girl was allegedly raped in a moving mini bus by its driver near here, in yet another incident of sexual assault on commuting women.

The incident occurred yesterday at Sulibele in Hoskote in Bengaluru Rural District when the girl, employed in a nursing home, got into the bus which had no other passenger, police said.

Commenting on the incident coming close on the heels of the alleged gang-rape of a 22-year old BPO employee in a van last month, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said government would not tolerate such incidents.

"All necessary action will be taken immediately within the framework of law," he told reporters here.

The latest incident occurred around 7 AM when the girl was on her way to work, police said.

Noticing that the girl was alone in the bus, the driver had asked the cleaner to steer the vehicle and allegedly raped her, police said.

The two then dropped the girl at a deserted place and fled.

On a complaint, police swung into action and detained both the driver and the cleaner and also seized the bus.

A case had been registered under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (Punishment for rape) and investigation was on, police said, adding the girl underwent medical test.

Questioned about such repeated incidents in private transport vehicles, Parameshwara said, "IT companies and other such organisations that operate or hire vehicles on contract will have to share background data about their drivers. We are already doing it, we will start monitoring it more seriously."