Rape In India: Woman Allegedly Raped At Knifepoint By Private Transport Driver, Cleaner In Bangalore

A woman working with a Bangalore back-office services company was driven around in a private transport vehicle she boarded to go home and raped at knifepoint Saturday night, she said in a complaint to the police Monday, according to local reports Tuesday.

While the woman was let out of the van and managed to contact her friends, who took her to a hospital in the early hours of Sunday, the case is reminiscent of the December 2012 incident in the national capital New Delhi where a young woman was so brutally raped by the staff on a private transport vehicle that she died of her injuries.

“The girl was gang-raped by the driver and cleaner of the van as they were driving the vehicle for around three-and-a-half hours. She was also taken to a secluded spot and later dropped at Madiwala,” The Hindu newspaper cited Police Commissioner N.S. Megharik as saying. The woman boarded the van at around 10 p.m., local time, [12:30 p.m. EDT] Saturday, after being unable to find any auto rickshaws, a more widely trusted and common mode of transport in Bangalore, at the late hour, according to local media reports.

Three people have been detained in connection with the alleged rape, the Times of India reported.

Medical examination at St. John's hospital, a well-known hospital in the city, confirmed that the woman, said to be in her early twenties, was raped, the Hindu cited Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East) Rohini Katoch Sepat as saying. The city police have formed three teams to track down the driver and the cleaner of the van, another official reportedly said.