14-Year-Old 'Gangraped' In Tamil Nadu Bus

Another Nirbhaya-like case took place in Tamil Nadu on June 5 as two drivers and a conductor allegedly gangraped a 14-year-old girl in a bus in Salem district, about 350 km from state capital Chennai.

The girl, who had just passed ninth grade this year, is a resident of Salem. She had run away from her house on Monday and boarded the bus from Salem to Omalur, which is about 20 km away. She was in the bus for about seven hours, during which time, the bus made several trips to and fro, said the police.

They confirmed that on completing all the trips for the day, the crew parked the bus in an isolated area, about 7 km from Omalur, and allegedly took turns to rape the young girl.

"The girl says the men threatened her to not get off the bus. She escaped and screamed when the third man assaulted her sexually. Local people rescued her and handed over the men," an officer told NDTV.

The teenager is a child of dalit daily wage labourers in Salem. It is reported that she has tried to run away twice in the past as well, said the police. The girl is being counselled at a children’s home but whether she has been medically examined or not is not clear yet.

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A case has been registered against the accused under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and Prevention of SC/ST Atrocities Act besides invoking provisions of kidnap, rape, intimidation and attempt to rape.

Recently, a slew of gangrape cases from different parts of the country have come to the fore. And yet, there seems to be no outrage. While the accused in the Jyoti Singh aka Nirbhaya gangrape case got convicted and were awarded death sentence. However, that does not seem to be deterrent enough.