Madhya Pradesh police have arrested a man who allegedly filmed the rape of a woman on a busy footpath in Ujjain district, police said Saturday. Superintendent of Police, Ujjain, Pradeep Sharma said that the accused, Mohammad Salim, 42, is an autorickshaw driver.
Sharma said that after the incident came to light, district police, cyber and social media teams were “deployed to find out who made the video of the incident and made it viral”.
“Within a few hours, the teams identified the accused who made the video. The accused has also been found to have a previous criminal record,” Sharma said.
Sharma said questioning of the accused was underway. The mobile phone of the accused is being examined, he said.
Police have booked Salim under Sections 72 (disclosure of identity of victim of certain offences), 77 (whoever watches, or captures the image of a woman engaging in a private act…), 294 (sale of obscene content) of the BNS, Section 67 of the IT Act and Section 4 of Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act.
According to police, the woman was raped on a footpath in Koyla Phatak, one of the busiest intersections, on Wednesday. The incident was shot by a passerby and several people saw the incident, yet nobody intervened, police said.
The police said the woman, in her complaint, named the accused as Lokesh, who was arrested within two hours of registering the FIR. Lokesh allegedly promised to marry the woman, made her drink liquor and then raped her, police said.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav meanwhile promised strict action in the case and accused the opposition of doing politics on the crime but keeping mum on the Kolkata rape-murder. The opposition has slammed the BJP government in MP claiming that it has failed to protect women. Asked about the Ujjain incident, Yadav told PTI in Ujjain that there is a rule of law in Madhya Pradesh and the government will deal strictly with whoever commits a crime.
“No one will be spared. Be it Ujjain or (anywhere in) the state, we are committed to good governance under the leadership of the Prime Minister,” he said. Ujjain is the hometown of Yadav, who also holds the portfolio of home ministry. He said, “Those who are doing politics should look into their own affairs. It will be understandable if they take care of the states ruled by them. They do not open their mouths on the incident in Kolkata (rape-murder of a trainee doctor).”
