Buses in New Delhi now with CCTV cameras

In the wake of a widespread outrage over the gang rape and brutal assault of a 23-year-old para-medical student in a bus, Delhi government on Monday said it would install CCTV cameras inside buses to ensure safety of women passengers. "This is a shocking incident. I hope that the guilty are punished for the heinous crime. The Delhi government would now seriously work on installing CCTV cameras inside the buses," Press Trust of India (PTI) quoted Women and Child Welfare Minister Kiran Walia as saying.

The victim, who pursues the course in Uttarakhand and is in the capital for her internship, is in "critical condition" at the Safdarjung Hospital, where she was rushed late Sunday night after the crime which sparked outrage.

Both the girl and her male friend, who had boarded the chartered bus with tinted glass windows from Munirka in south Delhi around 9.45 pm to Palam, were assaulted with an iron rod by the men after the duo resisted before they were dumped on the road side near Mahipalpur flyover, police said on Monday. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the government would take all necessary steps to ensure that such incidents do not recur.

"I have been told by transport department that their licence has been cancelled. We will take all the necessary measures to ensure that such incidents don't happen," she said. Delhi Transport department had long planned to install CCTV cameras in all its buses but it is yet to implement it.

Asked whether government was also planning to make it mandatory for installing CCTV cameras in private buses, an official in the Women and Child Welfare department said government was considering it.