Two days after the shocking rape of a homeless woman in broad daylight in Visakhatpatnam, the city police said that the accused, identified as Ganji Siva, has been a habitual offender since he was a teenager.
The Times of India reported that he lost his father at an early age, and his mother was a domestic help, adding that he first jailed in 2012 for a motorcycle theft
“He used to beat her (the mother) up when she refused to give him money . He was hell bent upon having his liquor quota for the day...(when he ran out of money), he would strike at isolated places and target bike riders and women and steal their gold chains. He occasionally worked as a lorry cleaner to earn some money and buy liquor," a police official told TOI.
A video of the heinous crime began doing the rounds on social media, after an auto driver who was on the road took a video of the incident and reported it to the police.
The graphic clip shows a man wearing a blue shirt and jeans raping a woman on the footpath of a road in Vizag. The clip shows the man behind a tree, committing the crime, even as a passerby walks past. No one comes forward to help the survivor, despite the rape occurring in broad daylight and just by the main road.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Maneka Gandhi lashed out at those who preferred to record a video of the woman being raped, rather than help her, and said that they should also be booked under law.
"Everybody here is culpable...the people who were thrill seekers preferring to let a woman suffer rather than help her. I am totally outraged by their behaviour...by the behaviour of the man who raped her and by the people who by doing nothing helped it happen," she told PTI over the phone.