Filming of rape: Auto driver booked

Visakhapatnam: The IV Town police on Wednesday registered a case against the auto-rickshaw driver Srinu who filmed the rape incident of a destitute in the city on the afternoon of October 22.

The police said Srinu , who filmed the episode and transmitted it to the WhatsApp number of city police , has been booked under IPC Section 354 C and IT Act 67 A. The clip on the WhatsApp went viral throughout the nation and some famous international channels reported the crime and its filming.

The police said as per IPC 354 (c), any man who watches, or captures the image of a woman engaging in a private act in circumstances where she would usually have the expectation of not being observed either by the perpetrator or by any other person at the behest of the perpetrator or disseminates such image shall be punished on first conviction with imprisonment of one to three years.

Similarly, IT Act 67 A, also ensures punishment for publishing or transmitting of material containing sexually explicit act in electronic form. The 21-year-old Ganji Siva (21), a helper to a lorry driver and who spent some time in juvenile home for a petty crime, allegedly raped a 40-year-old destitute in broad daylight near Srinivasa Kalyana Mandapam in Railway New Colony area in Visakhapatnam.

The woman hailing from Vepagunta, had a discord with her husband and left her home two days before the incident and took shelter in a bus stop. However, the action of the police against the auto drive has drawn a mixed response.

While some say that the auto driver has helped the police by transmitting the image to the police, human rights activists said he should have stopped youth from committing the heinous crime and rescued the destitute woman. On the other hand, the police are of the view that the auto driver should have filmed, transmitted that only to police rather passing it out to the media and others.