Man rapes woman in broad daylight in Visakhapatnam; police arrest perpetrator based on onlooker's video

VISAKHAPATNAM: A 35-year-old destitute woman was raped by a lorry driver in broad daylight in full public view on a footpath near the Srinivasa Kalyana Mandapam at Railway New Colony in Vizag  Sunday afternoon.

The incident happened at around 2 pm on Sunday. Some bystanders chose to capture the crime on their cell phones while others just walked past.

An auto-rickshaw driver recorded a video of the crime and sent it to the WhatsApp account of the Vizag Police, said sub-inspector Suresh of the Four Town police district.
 
The shocking video shows a man wearing a blue shirt and jeans forcing himself on the woman behind a tree even as a passerby walks past. No one comes forward to help the woman.

The man has been identified as Ganji Shiva (25), a lorry driver from Vizag. By the time police reached the spot, he had left the place.

Based on the information given by the auto driver and other local people, police took the lorry driver into custody.

"Ganji Shiva was drunk while committing the crime. He was taken into custody by Sunday evening. The victim is a destitute woman. She was seen begging in the area in the past few days and sleeping on the footpath. She has been sent to the King George Hospital for a medical examination. Her identity is yet to be ascertained," said Vizag East Zone ACP Narasimha Murthy.

A case has been registered at the Four Town police station and an investigation is on. Police sources said G Shiva was produced in court on Monday and has been sent to judicial remand for two weeks.