Bhopal bus driver’s home demolished after he allegedly raped a three-year-old girl

The authorities in Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal on Tuesday demolished the home of a school bus driver who has been arrested for allegedly raping a three-and-a-half-year-old nursery student, PTI reported.

“The revenue and Bhopal Municipal Corporation squads in a joint operation demolished the bus driver’s illegal house,” Sub-Divisional Magistrate Kshitij Sharma said.

While there are no provisions under Indian law to demolish the home of anyone accused of a crime, this pattern has been regularly observed across Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled states.

The child, studying at a private school in the Bhopal, was allegedly sexually assaulted by the driver on September 8 while she was returning home in the bus. According to a complaint by her parents, a woman attendant was present when the assault took place.

After the incident, the driver changed the child’s school uniform with a spare one that was kept in her bag. The child’s mother grew suspicious when she returned home in the changed dress and inquired about this with the school authorities, who denied changing the student’s clothes.

The police arrested the main accused Hanumant Jatav and bus attendant Urmila Sahu on Monday under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said the government has taken the incident very seriously, PTI reported.

“The accused [persons] have been arrested in the school bus case,” he said. “This incident of rape has been put in the category of the identified crime so that the trial of the case can be conducted at the earliest, and the harshest punishment ensured.”

Madhya Pradesh Home Minister Narottam Mishra said on Tuesday that he believes the school authorities tried to cover up the matter. “They will also be investigated and questioned in the case,” Mishra said.