Ujjain News: A man was arrested in Madhya Pradesh's temple town Ujjain for allegedly raping a woman in broad daylight on a footpath in Koyla Phatak, one of the busiest intersections in the city. The incident reportedly happened on Wednesday, a video of which went viral on social media sparking outrage. The man, identified as one Lokesh, had allegedly got the woman drunk before sexually assaulting her.
As per the police, the woman--a scrap collector-- in her complaint said that Lokesh had promised to marry the woman, offered her alcohol and then raped her. While the woman was sexually exploited on the roadside in the Agar Naka area, nobody intervened. Instead, someone filmed the sexual assault and uploaded it on social media.
The incident came to light after a video of the rape, shot by unidentified persons, went viral on social media, Kotwali Area's City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Om Prakash Mishra said.
The woman filed a complaint when the effect of alcohol wore off, following which the accused was arrested. "At around 3:30 pm (on Wednesday), a woman came to the police station and reported that she had been raped. Immediately a woman officer was called and her story was heard and an FIR was registered after informing the senior officers. In the FIR, the concerned woman revealed the name of the accused Lokesh. Immediately a team was formed and sent in search of Lokesh and yesterday itself within 2 hours of the FIR being registered, we arrested Lokesh," Mishra said.
"The accused was brought to the police station and questioned, during which Lokesh admitted to committing the crime. The woman was medically examined and after that, Lokesh was presented before the court. As per the order of the court, the person concerned has been lodged in Bherugarh jail. 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," he added.
The incident sparked outrage in the city, with Congress criticising the BJP government for the "worsening law and order" in Madhya Pradesh. MP Congress posted the video of the incident on its X handle and said: "Ujjain, the sacred city, is once again shamed. Those in power should either die of shame or resign."
Speaking on the incident, Madhya Pradesh BJP chief and MP VD Sharma said, "Congress party has no issues to corner the Madhya Pradesh government and that's why they try to give such a tone to the incident...The BJP government is the first government to introduce a law to give the death penalty to the perpetrators of these kinds of incidents...The accused has been arrested and the state government will ensure that strict action is taken against them."