In a harrowing incident in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, a woman scrap collector was raped by a man who had forced her to consume alcohol in the Agar Naka area. The crime came to light when a disturbing video of the assault went viral on social media. Police have identified three to four suspects who filmed and shared the video and are actively pursuing them.

City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Om Prakash Mishra revealed that the accused, Lokesh, had promised to marry the victim. On Wednesday, he coerced her into drinking liquor before raping her. Bystanders, rather than intervening, recorded the attack.

Lokesh fled but was arrested after the woman filed a complaint once she regained consciousness. The victim is stable and recovering at home. The police are intensifying efforts to track down all involved in the incident.

In a similar incident, a woman in Siddharthnagar was sexually assaulted by the driver and helper of a private ambulance she hired to transport her terminally ill husband. The assault occurred on August 29 when the ambulance driver and helper, after being resisted by the woman, stopped the vehicle in Basti district and forcibly removed her, her brother, and her husband. The woman reported the incident to local police, who arranged another ambulance to take her husband to Gorakhpur Medical College, where he was declared dead upon arrival.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi condemned the incidents calling them a “blot on humanity.” He criticised the “propaganda-centric” governments for fostering an insensitive system, emphasising the need for societal and administrative reforms for women’s safety.

“The brutality against women in Ujjain and Siddharthnagar is a blot on humanity. The continuously increasing crimes against women and the attitude of the police administration towards the victim and her family is proof of the cruelty of the system and is a matter of serious concern for the country,” Gandhi said in a post in Hindi on X.

“Propaganda-centric governments have given birth to an insensitive system to create a false image of themselves, the biggest victims of which are women,” he said.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress General Secretary, expressed horror over the Ujjain incident, stating, “The entire nation is stunned by the brazen assault and the bystanders’ indifference. Humanity has been severely tarnished.”

“Better citizens give birth to better systems, and better systems create a better society,” he added.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the incident of rape of a woman on the footpath in broad daylight in Ujjain, Madhya Pradesh, is extremely horrifying.

“Today the whole country is stunned as to where our society is heading? According to reports, people passing by were making videos instead of saving the woman. Humanity has been tarnished by such an incident on the holy land of Ujjain,” she added.