Nirbhaya - Alleged Perpetrators Arrested

Alleged Perpetrators Arrested

Police found and arrested some suspects within 24 hours. From recordings made by a highway CCTV vehicle, a description of the bus, a white charter bus with a name written on it, was broadcast. Other operators identified it as being contracted by a South Delhi private school. They then traced it and found its driver, Ram Singh. Police obtained sketches of the assailants with the help of the male victim, and used a cell phone stolen from the two victims to find one of the assailants.

Six men were arrested in connection with the incident. They included Ram Singh, the bus driver, and his brother, Mukesh Singh, who were both arrested in Rajasthan. Vinay Sharma, an assistant gym instructor, and Pawan Gupta, a fruit seller, were both arrested in Delhi. A seventeen year old Raju a juvenile from Badayun, Uttar Pradesh, was arrested at the Anand Vihar terminal in Delhi and Akshay Thakur, who had come to Delhi seeking employment, was arrested in Aurangabad.

According to reports, the group had been eating and drinking together and "having a party" earlier in the day. The juvenile had only met the others that day. Although the charter bus which Ram Singh drove on weekdays was not permitted to pick up public passengers or even to operate in Delhi because of its tinted windows, they decided to take it out "to have some fun". With Mukesh Singh driving, they first picked up a carpenter who was charged Rs. 10 for a ticket and then robbed of Rs. 8,000 and ejected in South Delhi. They then turned back and a half hour later picked up the couple who were charged Rs. 10 each.

Shortly after the attacks, Gupta said he accepted his guilt and should be hanged. Ram Singh was presented before the Metropolitan Magistrate on 18 December 2012. Mukesh Singh, who was placed in Tihar Jail after his arrest, was assaulted by other inmates and was kept in solitary confinement for his own protection. Ram and Mukesh Singh lived in Ravidas camp, a slum in South Delhi. Ram Singh suffered from a substantial disability in his right arm, sustained after a bus accident for which he had sought compensation. He refused to participate in an identification process.

On 11 March Ram Singh was discovered hanging from a ventilator shaft in his cell about 5.45am. Authorities said it was unclear whether it was a suicide or a murder. It was later reported that Ram Singh was prone to mood swings. His friends called Ram Singh "Mental" alluding perhaps abnormal behaviour at times. In 2009, Ram Singh had a serious accident. His wife's death three years ago of kidney failure had added to the rage, said police.