The girl and her friend were returning home to Dwarka, after a movie at around 9:30 PM and were picked up near a bus stop from Munirka, South Delhi.^[1] The bus stopped when they saw the couple and the driver called out that the bus was going to Dwarka. They boarded it assuming it was one of the privately owned buses which was used as a public transport and they each bought one 10 rupees ticket. However, as soon as they took their seats, the driver and his accomplices started making lewd remarks about her being out with a man so late and they hit her friend with an iron rod when he objected.^[2] The victim then tried to fight the prime accused, Ram Singh. He was said to have turned violent after the death of his wife two years ago.^[3] The girl struggled to save her friend which led Ram Singh to beat her. She was then dragged to the back of the bus and raped, by four of the men present while the bus being still on the move.The dark tinted windows and the presence of curtains prolonged her torture as no one could see in. It was reported that each of the men raped her twice. After which both the victim and her friend were stripped and thrown on to a flyover. The accused, Ram Singh confessed during the interrogation that he stripped them to remove any traces of blood and semen and took their mobile phones, which he switched off. The couple was found on the flyover by some passerbys who called it in. The accused then took the bus which he had stolen to take on a joyride, back to the owner, who lived in Noida and thoroughly washed the bus to remove any traces. He then went back home and pretended as if everything was normal. The friend of the victim had seen yadav written on the white chartered bus, which helped the police discover it. The forensics had found traces of DNA, hair and semen and also nail scratches on the bus.^[1]

The incident was criticized by members of all parties, MP Sushma Swaraj, Najma Heptulla from BJP and V. Maitreyan from AIADMK suggested inclusion of capital punishment for such crimes.^[4][5] Jaya Bachchan, who broke down crying, said such cases should be tried on par with murder and rape should be included in IPC 307.^[6][7] The Jawaharlal Nehru University Students' Union protested in front of a police station and blocking traffic for hours only leaving when informed about the arrest of four accused.^[8] MP Jaya Bachchan, T.N. Seema, and Jharna Das Baidya, in a protest at Police Headquarters, called for a public apology from the police commissioner for police inefficiency. In another protest, a march outside the home of Delhi CM Sheila Dikshit, which included students from Delhi University, JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia were scattered using water canons.^[9]