Driver arrested for rape of teen tribal woman in moving bus in Tripura

Police has confirmed the arrest of a driver for allegedly raping a teen tribal woman in his bus while she was returning home.

The 19-year-old woman boarded the local private bus at Nidoya in Belonia at about 4 p.m. on Monday. She was traveling to Dhuptoli, but the bus stopped midway at Ekinpur and the driver informed it would not go any further.

After all the passengers alighted, the woman requested the driver to help her reach Dhuptoli.

The driver agreed and apparently handed the wheels to the cleaner and approached the woman. As the bus passed through villages at a breakneck speed, the lady was raped by the driver in the moving bus.

At night, the driver kept the victim in a house at Radhanagar, from where police rescued her after locals informed them about the incident.

The arrested driver has been identified as Parimal Debnath, said P R Bari police in South Tripura district after the woman lodged a complaint on Tuesday.

The accused has since been produced before a local court.

The woman, a mother of two, has sought justice.

In her complaint, she said,"I wanted to go to Dhuptali, and they told that they would take me to Dhuptali, but instead, took me to Radhanagar or some other place which I did not know. It was a bus and I took it around 4 p.m. and probably reached Radhanagar around 5 p.m. At that time, there were other passengers in the vehicle. Later the driver did the bad act with me. I do not know him and at that time there were no other passenger. It was dark, and sometime between 7 p.m. and 8p.m., I asked them to take me to my maternal aunt's house at Radhanagar, but the driver said that his elder sister's house is just off the road and left me there. In the morning, at 10 a.m., people saw me, informed the police who rescued me at around 12 p.m."

She added, "There were two more people in the bus when the driver did the bad act. I have informed everything to the police and am seeking justice against the person who did this bad thing with me.