‘Public execution’: Political parties condemn ‘shocking’ Greater Noida sleeper bus gang-rape

Aam Aadmi Party’s Saurabh Bharadwaj criticized the Delhi government over the rape of the teen and other incidents of sexual harassment of minors in Delhi. The alleged rape of a 16-year-old girl inside a moving bus in Delhi national capital region (NCR) earlier this month has drawn ire of several political parties and leaders as they have condemned the horrific crime and called for strict action against the accused.A 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped inside a sleeper bus by the vehicle’s driver and conductor near Greater Noida’s near Pari Chowk on August 4, police said.Congress called the incident that took place between Greater Noida and Delhi “shocking” and accused that the police from Uttar Pradesh and the national capital, both ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party, “turned a deaf ear and slept on”.“No patrolling, no checking...This incident not only exposes the hollow claims of women's safety but also shows that criminals have no fear of the law,” the party wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday.Deep DiveA 16-year-old girl was allegedly gang-raped inside a sleeper bus by the vehicle’s driver and conductor near Greater Noida’s near Pari Chowk on August 4, police said on Monday. Both the accused have been arrested. The incident came to light almost a month later.Also read: 16-year-old gang-raped inside sleeper bus in Greater Noida, had fled home after scolding over studiesTaking a jibe at the BJP, Congress added that law and order has “collapsed under ‘double engine’ governments”.“Today, criminals are brazenly committing crimes, and the BJP government is busy with empty, pie-in-the-sky promises, with no concern for the safety of the people,” it added.Aam Aadmi Party’s Saurabh Bharadwaj also criticized the Delhi government over the rape of the teen and other incidents of sexual harassment of minors in the national capital.“A teenage girl left her home after a minor fight and got a lift in a bus. The driver and the conductor of the bus gang-raped her inside the moving bus,” Bharadwaj said referring to the incident in a video on X. He also talked about other such incidents in the national capital in the video that he captioned “CM Rekha Gupta’ Govt’s conduct regarding child r@pes in Delhi has been insensitive & disgusting”.Also read: ‘Delhi police vanish during crime, only show up to assault kids’: Dipke on Greater Noida gangrapeBJP MP Navneet Rana also condemned the gang-rape and said it was ‘disheartening” as a woman that such incidents still occur. She added that people who commit such crimes “should be hanged at a bus intersection”.“There should be no lengthy trials, no delays, and no need for special fast-track courts; it should be a straightforward process, a hearing followed immediately by public execution. That is the only appropriate punishment..." she told news agency ANI while calling for strict action against the accused.Also read: Greater Noida rape-murder main accused shot dead in police encounter while recreating crime scene16-year-old was going to meet cousin in Noida, was gang-rapedThe police said that the girl, a resident of Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri, left home after her mother had scolded her over studies and was going to meet her cousin who lives in Noida sector 63.She told police that she got off at Pari Chowk in Greater Noida by mistake while it was raining heavily and got on the sleeper bus after the conductor allegedly told her that the bus was going towards Noida sector 63.Once the bus started moving, the girl alleged that both the driver and conductor gang-raped her and threatened to kill her if she resisted. Later, they abandoned her at Delhi’s Kashmere Gate before fleeing, according to police.The case is reminiscent of the horrific 2012 Delhi gang-rape that took place inside a moving bus and sparked national outrage.(With inputs from Hemani Bhandari)Nikita Sharma is a Senior Content Producer with Hindustan Times. She is a Delhi-based digital journalist with five years of experience writing and editing news stories across beats including crime, politics, tech, trends and much more, both national and international. At Hindustan Times, she is part of the news team and focuses on breaking news, keeping a track of what is happening where, and chasing ever-developing news stories. She has a penchant for covering crime, geopolitics, and Indian politics with a keen eye for stories often overlooked in the daily news cycle. At Hindustan Times, she has extensively covered several key events including the US Presidential elections, Air India plane crash, Pahalgam terror attack and Operation Sindoor, US’ tariff war, and others. As a Delhi aficionado, she particularly enjoys roaming and writing about the national capital — its heritage, food, art and culture, and the many problems that come with it — the pollution, waterlogging, traffic, and more. Nikita did her Bachelor in Journalism and Mass Communication from GGSIPU and started working as a digital journalist in 2021. During her first stint, she covered hyperlocal news at a Delhi-based newsroom, writing and editing stories on builder-buyer conflicts, civic issues such as potholes, waterlogging, lack of facilities at hospitals in Delhi, crippling of the city during peak monsoon season. She also wrote features covering Delhi’s art exhibitions, heritage walks, artist profiles, museums, classical Hindustani music concerts and dance shows. She entered mainstream news in 2023 and has previously worked at NDTV.Read More