BMTC Bus driver not charged with rape

A day after the news broke out that a BMTC driver allegedly tried to rape a female passenger, police have booked the driver for sexual assault.
DCP (South) HS Revanna said the driver, Siddharth, has been booked for attempt to murder, wrongful confinement and assaulting a woman with an intention to outrage her modesty. He has not been charged with rape. The driver, meanwhile, summarily refuted the allegations.

Woman's version:

She boarded a bus whose last stop was Banashankari, where she asked the driver how to go to Devegowda petrol pump and he offered to driver her there. Banashankari being the last stop, the bus was empty when the two in the bus headed to the petrol pump. The driver stopped the bus mid-way and tried to rape her. She put up a fight and raised an alarm, which scared him and he started driving towards Chamarajpet, pushing her out of the vehicle en route.

Driver's version:

When the bus reached the last stop, the woman demanded that the driver take the bus further, to Devegowda petrol pump. The driver said he could not do that, the woman did not budge and that's how the two got into an argument. The driver got irked, closed the bus's door and started driving towards Majestic although the bus was empty. The woman got scared and jumped out of the window when the bus reached Chamarajpet.
The police said the driver was nabbed on the basis of the woman's statement, but now she herself does not want to press the charges. She is undergoing treatment at KIMS hospital. Transport minister Ramalinga Reddy and Kannada and culture minister Umashree visited her on Sunday.

(mybangalore@dnaindia.net)