Nursing assistant raped on bus in India’s Bangalore, police say

A bus driver has raped a 19-year-old nursing assistant in his vehicle on the outskirts of the southern Indian city of Bangalore.

The assault occurred on Thursday when the woman boarded the bus to commute to her job at a nursing home in Hoskote, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the city center.

The driver reportedly committed the crime in complicity with his vehicle's cleaner by asking him to drive the bus.

"We have arrested accused Ravi, 26, with bus cleaner Manjunath, 23, under section 376 of the Indian Penal Code on a complaint by the victim that she was raped by the driver when she was alone in the bus," said S.R. Ramesh, a Bangalore Police official.

"The accused asked the cleaner to drive the bus while he raped her and dumped her later on roadside," the police official added.

Bangalore’s Home Minister G. Parameshwara said the accused would be dealt with strictly.

"We will not tolerate any incident of rape in any part of the state. I have directed the police to take preventative steps and act against the guilty strictly," Parameshwara told reporters.

Bangalore is not a stranger to such incidents.

On October 3, a 23-year-old woman was reportedly gang-raped by a driver and a cleaner in a van in a southeastern suburb of the city. The two men involved were apprehended.

India has toughened punishment for sexual violence since the fatal gang-rape of a student on a Delhi bus in 2012. The death sparked mass protests in the country as well as domestic and international outrage.

Press TV’s website can also be accessed at the following alternate addresses:

www.presstv.co.uk