In a shocking incident, a man raped a woman in broad daylight on the side of a busy road after making her consume alcohol in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, the hometown of Chief Minister Mohan Yadav.

Another disturbing aspect of the incident was that many men and women witnessed the crime, which occurred at one of the busiest intersections in the city, but no one tried to stop the culprit or inform the police immediately. Instead several people shot videos of the incident and floated them on social media on Thursday.

It was only after the videos came to light that the police swung into action. The police identified the victim, aged around 45 years, and brought her to the police station.

She told police that the accused met her near an alcohol shop at the Agar Naka near Koyla Fatak area in Ujjain city and allegedly lured her on the pretext of marriage and then forced her to consume liquor. However, soon after he sexually assaulted her on the roadside and then fled the spot after threatening her, the woman told the police.

According to Ujjain Kotwali area CSP Om Prakash Mishra, the accused was identified as one Lokesh on the basis of the woman’s complaint. The police arrested Lokesh and booked him under relevant sections for the crime.

The official said the police were also trying to identify those who shot videos of the incident and posted them on social media.

MP Congress Chief Jitu Patwari launched a scathing attack on CM Dr Yadav and the BJP government over the incident.

Patwari alleged that on the one hand the BJP is protesting across the country over the rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata’s R G Kar Medical College but on the other hand, MP CM Mohan Yadav, former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan, PM Modi and other BJP leaders remain silent on shocking incident of rape at Ujjain and similar crimes happening regularly across Madhya Pradesh.

Patwari added that rapes are now happening on streets in broad daylight in MP. He questioned if such crimes can occur in the Chief Minister’s hometown, then what would be the condition elsewhere in the state?

Former Congress CM of MP, Kamal Nath charged that rape cases are being reported from every district of the state. He averred that the law and order system in MP has totally failed.

The Madhya Pradesh Congress posted on X, saying, ‘Ujjain, the sacred city, is once again shamed. Those in power should either die of shame or resign.’