Minor Girl Rape Case: Why Bus-Checking Rules Not Followed Years After Nirbhaya, Asks Rahul Gandhi

September 1, 2026

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday questioned the enforcement of rules for checking and monitoring sleeper buses after a 16-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a driver and conductor inside a bus travelling from Greater Noida to Delhi.

Reacting to the case, Gandhi said the incident showed serious gaps in the safety and monitoring systems for women in the Delhi-NCR region.

In a post on X, Gandhi questioned how the bus could travel across major routes and borders without being stopped at a checkpoint.

दिल्ली NCR महिलाओं के लिए इतना असुरक्षित हो चुका है कि एक नाबालिग बच्ची के साथ एक स्लीपर बस में 47 किलोमीटर तक गैंगरेप हुआ – ग्रेटर नोएडा से दिल्ली तक।

हैरानी की बात है कि पूरी दिल्ली या नोएडा पुलिस को इसकी भनक तक नहीं लगी। यह बस नोएडा-ग्रेटर नोएडा एक्सप्रेसवे, दिल्ली का रिंग… pic.twitter.com/VqL9Xo264j

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) September 1, 2026

He said the bus crossed the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, Delhi’s Ring Road and the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border without being checked.

Rahul Gandhi questions bus monitoring

Gandhi referred to the 2012 Nirbhaya case while questioning why rules related to sleeper buses were still not being properly implemented.

He alleged that curtains covering the sleeper compartments prevented outsiders from seeing what was happening inside the bus and questioned whether the accused had any fear of law enforcement.

Gandhi also questioned whether authorities would fix what he described as repeated administrative failures and sought accountability from the Delhi Police and Uttar Pradesh Police.

What happened in the Greater Noida case?

According to police, the 16-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by the driver and conductor of a sleeper bus near Pari Chowk in Greater Noida on August 4.

Police said the two accused, identified as Kuldeep and Sandeep, allegedly assaulted the teenager and threatened her before abandoning her near Kashmere Gate in Delhi.

Both accused were arrested from a parking area in Timarpur, Delhi, on the same day. Police seized the bus and sent it for forensic examination.

Investigators are also examining CCTV footage from the route to establish the sequence of events.

How the teenager reached the bus

The survivor is a resident of Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh and was travelling towards Noida Sector 63, where her cousin lives.

Police said she had left home without informing her family after being reprimanded by her mother over her studies.

According to her statement, she mistakenly got off at Pari Chowk amid heavy rain and darkness. After realising she was at the wrong location, she looked for another vehicle and eventually boarded the sleeper bus.

Police said there were no passengers inside the bus at the time.

The investigation into the case is underway.