MUMBAI BUS DRIVER HELD FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT ON 6YROLD GIRL

MUMBAI: A BEST bus driver was arrested on Friday for allegedly sexually assaulting a six-yearold girl on board a luxury bus, which was returning to Mumbai from Shirdi.

Crime Branch officials said the accused Sopan Ugale, 32, was a resident of Oshiwara area and was attached with Goregaon bus depot as a driver.

According to the police, the victim and her family had boarded a luxury bus from Shirdi on the night of June 13. The accused also boarded the same bus from Sangamner area at around 10:30pm.

Police said the girl’s mother told her to sit on a vacant seat next to the accused. Around 3am, when the minor was asleep, the accused sexually abused her, a police official added.

The minor shared her ordeal with her mother in the morning after she started experiencing pain in her private parts. The accused, however, had deboarded the bus by that time.

The victim’s family then approached the Kurar police station and a case of sexual assault under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act was registered against the accused.

Meanwhile, the crime branch began its enquiry into the case and checked the passengers’ list, an official familiar with the investigation said.

“Once the accused’s seat number was confirmed we got his entire details. Ugale has mentioned his mobile number while taking ticket from agency so we got his number. The current location and his residential address were also found in Oshiwara area, said police inspector Sunil Jadhav of the unit 12.

A police team visited at Ugale’s residence on Friday morning and he was brought to the police station and during interrogation he confessed to the crime, a police official said.

POLICE SAY ACCUSED ASSAULTED THE GIRL IN HER SLEEP ON BOARD A LUXURY BUS ON JUNE 13