A man raped a woman on a footpath in Madhya Pradesh, India, in daylight while onlookers just watched and filmed the crime instead of interfering and assisting the victim.
The horrific incident occurred last week in broad daylight at one of Ujjain district’s most bustling intersections, Koyla Phatak.
According to The Indian Express, City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Ujjain, Om Prakash Mishra, stated that the victim had approached the police station around 3:30 pm on Wednesday to report that she had been raped.
“Immediately a woman officer was called and her story was heard and an FIR (first information report) was registered after informing the senior officers,” Mishra said.
The victim, in her complaint, identified the accused as a man named Lokesh, the police said.
“A team was immediately formed and sent in search of Lokesh, and yesterday itself, within two hours of the FIR being registered, we arrested Lokesh. The accused was brought to the police station and questioned, during which Lokesh admitted to committing the crime,” Mishra said.
After the incident, the victim was medically examined, while Lokesh was presented before the court which sent him to judicial custody.
“Apart from this, the statement of the woman was also recorded before the court today. In which the woman has confirmed the incident of rape before the court… A video of this incident was also made which also came to police, we have taken it as evidence,” Mishra said.
Additionally, according to India Today, an auto-rickshaw driver, who filmed the incident, was arrested.
Police have alleged that the accused Lokesh had “promised to marry her, made her drink liquor, and then raped her on Wednesday”.
This heartbreaking incident in India comes weeks after the country saw nationwide outrage and protests over the rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata where she worked.
Many people drew parallels of the incident to the notorious gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old student on a moving bus in New Delhi in 2012.
This latest incident of sexual abuse in India has unleashed a war of words between the Congress and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The opposition party raised alarms over the “deteriorating law and order” in the state pointing out that the crime occurred in Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s constituency.
