The incident took place at Visakhapatnam in southeast India at 2.30 pm on a Sunday. Media reports say the 28-year old victim had just had a quarrel with her husband and was driven out of the house. As she had not eaten for hours, she laid down to rest in the shade of a tree.
As ill luck would have it, 30-year old truck cleaner Ganji Shiva who has a drug-taking record was drunk and happened to pass by. He took advantage of the woman and raped her on the spot.
There were many passers-by as it was a Sunday afternoon, but nobody offered a helping hand. They either ignored what was happening, or just took out an iphone to film it.
The police were critical of people who wouldn’t give a damn to such an outrageous act. Eyewitnesses say the victim did cry out for help, but passers-by retreated when Shiva stared at them. A driver filmed the incident and reported to the police who arrived too late for any action, but they managed to arrest him later in the night based on some CCTV footage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at Australia’s leader on Sunday while nations expressed shock and sympathy over a mass shooting at a Jewish holiday event, saying he had warned Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that “your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.”
Netanyahu during the war in Gaza has repeatedly sought to link widespread calls for a Palestinian state, and criticism of Israel’s military offensive in the territory following Hamas' 2023 attack, to growing incidents of antisemitism worldwide.
While others in Israel’s government on Sunday also urged Australia to do more against a sharp rise in antisemitic attacks, Netanyahu went further in attempting to link the attack in Sydney that killed at least 11 people, including an Israeli, to support for a Palestinian state.
Australia was among several countries formally recognizing a Palestinian state in September during the United Nations gathering of world leaders. According to the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, 159 countries have recognized Palestine. The vast majority of the international community believes that a two-state solution is the only way to end decades of conflict.
Netanyahu's government has said the international push for a Palestinian state rewards Hamas.
Here are some global reactions to the Australia shooting:
Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said that “terrorism and the killing of people, wherever they occur, are unacceptable and must be condemned.” Australia in August cut off diplomatic relations with Iran and accused it of masterminding antisemitic arson attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.
President Donald Trump called the shooting “a purely antisemitic attack,” and Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that “antisemitism has no place in this world.”
King Charles III said he was “appalled and saddened.” He also leads the Commonwealth, and the office of Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Sunday said Herzog had reached out to the king in September warning of an “epidemic of antisemitism” in three Commonwealth countries: Britain, Canada and Australia.
Meanwhile, police in London said they would step up security at Jewish sites.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said the attack “has left me speechless” and added that “this is an attack on our shared values. We must stop this antisemitism, here in Germany and worldwide.”
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was horrified and that “My heart is with the Jewish community worldwide on this first day of Hannukah, a festival celebrating the miracle of peace and light vanquishing darkness.”
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi condemned the “ghastly terrorist attack” and said that “we stand in solidarity with the people of Australia in this hour of grief.”
The organization's president, Ronald Lauder, said that “No community should ever fear coming together to celebrate its faith, traditions, or identity,” adding: “Make no mistake, this will not break us."
"I’m surrounded by antisemitic graffiti constantly. I think for our community in the east (of Sydney), and as a Christian, I just want to declare I stand with the people of Israel,” Anglican pastor Matt Graham told Australian Broadcasting Corp. He said he had been conducting a service at the nearby Bondi Anglican Church when panicked people began entering to take shelter.
Police cordon off an area at Bondi Beach after a reported shooting in Sydney, Sunday, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mark Baker)
