Moga victim's family says no to last rites, Badal orders his buses off roads

Three days after a teenage girl was molested and pushed to her death from a moving bus in Punjab's Moga district, her relatives have refused to perform her final rites till the time the proprietors of the company that owned the vehicle are booked.

Her father sought security for the family apprehending threat to their lives and claimed they were under political pressure to "hush up" the matter and go for a compromise.

Meanwhile, under fire over the incident, Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal this evening ordered all buses of Orbit Aviation, which he co-owns, off the road.

"We are not going to cremate our daughter whose body has been kept in a mortuary until and unless justice is done to us by initiating criminal case against the owner of the bus," victim's father Sukhdev Singh said.

He also sought a written assurance from the authorities that no harm would be brought
to the family.

"We, including my son, should be given security cover because we are feeling threatened. A written assurance should be given undertaking responsibility in the event of any harm to any of our family members," he told journalists.

He also stuck to his demand for registration of a case against Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal and cancellation of road permits of Orbit Aviation, which owned the bus from which the deceased and her mother were thrown out after being molested, before the family performed her last rites.

The family had yesterday rejected the government's offer of a compensation of Rs 20 lakh, a government job for her mother, her free treatment and holding trial of the case in a fast track court.

Amid mounting protests by opposition parties including Congress and AAP, Sukhbir Badal, while ordering all his company's buses off the road, also directed that the operating staff be sent for an "orientation course".

"The Deputy Chief Minister, who is also the Home Minister of the state, has ordered that no bus of Orbit Aviation would ply on the road," an official spokesman said.

He said that Sukhbir has also "asked (the) company to send bus operating staff on orientation course. "

"No Orbit bus should be on roads till completion of course," Sukhbir, who is among the owners of the company said.

Earlier in the day, AAP activists took out a march to protest against the incident again and burnt effigies of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his son and Deputy CM Sukhbir.

Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes P L Punia visited the girl's mother at the hospital to inquire about her condition and demanded cancellation of the permits of Orbit Aviation owned by the Badals.

He said a case should also be registered against the owners of the company. "I don't say a murder case should be registered against them, but slapping a case of negligence is definitely in order," Punia said.

Sukhdev Singh told Punia about the alleged pressure being brought on the family to reach a compromise and their decision to not cremate the girl before the owners of the bus have been booked and road permits of their vehicles cancelled.