Bus driver held on charge of raping school girl

Patna: A bus driver of a private school was arrested on Sunday in Siwan district on the charge of raping a 12-year-old girl.

The alleged incident occurred while the girl was returning from a Ram Navami fair late on Friday night. The accused driver allegedly lured her on the way on the pretext of buying some items from a shop at the fair and took her to a field where he committed the crime. The girl is undergoing treatment at a govt hospital, police said.

According to the police, the accused and the girl, a class VI student, were known to each other as he was the bus driver of the private school where she studied. The accused is from a neighbouring village.

The police said on Friday evening, the girl went to a Ram Navami village fair when the accused allegedly began following her. The accused, identified as Sawali Kumar Yadav (36), allegedly lured the child by telling her that his brother-in-law had set up a shop at the fair and he would buy her some items from there.

The accused then took the girl towards a deserted stretch, dragged her into a wheat field and sexually assaulted her before fleeing, leaving her severely injured. The child was later found crying near a school during a search by the family members.

A relative who found her said, “She was initially unable to explain what had happened. After being taken home, she informed her grandmother about the assault, following which the family approached the local police station. She was then sent to a govt hospital with a woman police officer for treatment.”

Siwan superintendent of police (SP) Puran Kumar Jha said the priority was first to ensure the victim received urgent medical care, after which the suspect was taken into custody.

A forensic science team also visited the crime spot, collected blood samples and other evidence, and questioned local residents. Police said the scientific evidence gathered from the spot would play an important role in strengthening the case. The statement of the girl has not been recorded yet as she was not in a condition to speak anything, the police said.