Haryana govt to honour brave girls on R-Day

Lauding the two sisters from Rohtak for their extraordinary act of bravery in dealing with their male harassers, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Monday announced that the sisters will be honoured at the Republic Day function in the state.

Sisters Pooja and Aarti, students of computer science, will also be given a cash award of Rs 31,000 each. The sisters bravely fought a man, a new Army recruit, who along with two of his accomplices, kept harassing them on board a state roadways bus despite repeated warnings to stop the sexual harassment.

The incident took place last week but it was only after a video of the incident, taken by a woman passenger in the bus, went viral that the police got into action following an outrage, both from the public and the media.

Days later on Sunday, the police arrested the three accused, identified as Kuldeep, Mohit and Deepak. 

The Army recruit is likely to be dismissed from the force. The accused were sent to judicial custody by the court till December 6. They have been booked under sections of the IPC for assault and criminal force with intent to outrage woman's modesty and for voluntarily causing hurt. The bus driver and conductor have been suspended by the government for failing to save the girls from the harassment.

None of the passengers in the bus came forward to help the girls. They all sat as mute spectators as the girls fought the man, initially with bare hands and then with their belt.