Woman raped in broad daylight on footpath in Ujjain; Congress, BJP spar over incident

UJJAIN: A purported video, shared widely on social media in which a woman is being raped on a footpath in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain district, has triggered outrage and a war of words between Congress and the ruling BJP.

As per police, the crime took place under the jurisdiction of Kotwali police on September 4 and the incident was recorded by passersby on their phone cameras. Following a complaint from the woman, police arrested the accused the same day and he was produced before the court the following day from where he was sent to jail, a police officer said.

“On September 4, around 3.30 pm, a woman came to the Kotwali 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 woman revealed the name of the accused Lokesh”, City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Om Prakash Mishra said.

“Acting on the complaint, a team was formed immediately and sent in search of accused Lokesh. Within two hours of the FIR being registered, we arrested Lokesh the same day. 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 on Thursday, September 5. According to the order of the court, the person concerned was sent to Bherugarh jail”, the police offficer said.

The statement of the woman was also recorded before the court on Thursday, in which the woman has confirmed the incident of rape before the court.

When asked about a purported video of the incident going viral on social media, the officer said, “A video of this incident was also made at the time of crime which also came to police, we have taken it as evidence”.

Madhya Pradesh Congress President Jitu Patwari questioned the silence of Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s silence over the issue.

“BJP is protesting across the country against RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder incident…A woman was raped in Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s constituency. Why is MP CM Mohan Yadav, Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, PM Modi silent?… There is ‘Jungle Raaj’ in Madhya Pradesh. No one is safe in Madhya Pradesh…BJP leaders should also look at these kinds of incidents that are happening in MP…”

Madhya Pradesh BJP chief and MP V D Sharma retorted that the accused had been arrested and the state government will ensure strict action. He said that the Congress was trying to create a controversy.

“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…” the BJP MP said.

Congress leader Pramod Tiwari also targeted the BJP-ruled states and said, “The nation is feeling ashamed. The honour of women is being shredded in all the BJP-ruling states…Why are the BJP-led state governments silent?” (ANI)