Minor girl raped inside bus, culprits absconding

Correspondents

GORESWAR/JALAH, Aug 25 - Tension prevails in Goreswar area following the rape of a 13-year-old girl inside a public bus (Pallab) bearing registration number AS-01 EC 4207, by its driver and handyman Arshed Ali and Rubul Ali respectively on the night of August 22 at Uporkhuti village under Suwagpur Police Station in Baksa district. Both the rapists are absconding. Though the incident took place on Saturday night, the incident came to light only on Monday. According to sources, on Saturday morning the girl took a bus for her home in Sonitpur. But upon reaching Guwahati, she was brought back by the driver and the handyman, who lured her with a false promise of taking her home. In the evening after the bus reached Uporkhuti, both the driver of the bus and his assistant, took turns in raping her inside the bus the whole night. Early next morning the girl escaped and informed the people of nearby Atrighat village. The girl and the All Adivasi Students� Association of Assam (AASAA) have filed separate FIRs at Suwagpur PS in this regard. According to sources, the girl is from Sonitpur and her mother had left her to work as a maid at the house of a resident of Gachbari village in Baksa on August 16, but she did not like the place and fled from the house on Saturday morning and took the bus, after which the incident happened. Meanwhile, the Goreswar units of the AASU, ASKSU, AAKRSU, ABSU, AJYCP, Mahila Mancha and other local organisations staged a dharna in front of Goreswar PS today demanding immediate arrest of the culprits and their subsequent punishment. The Goreswar unit of SFI took out a rally today to Goreswar PS. Various other organisations also carried out protest demonstrations by organising rallies and dharna at Goreswar today seeking justice and demanding immediate arrest and punishment of the two culprits.