The boy who wanted to become an actor one day

A frail looking boy, mostly clad in a red vest, who had dreams of becoming a Bollywood actor — this is how the residents of Ravidas camp, a slum colony in RK Puram Sector-3, remember the December 16 gang rape convict who was released on Sunday after serving three years at a correction home.

On a day when the nation stood divided on the release of the ‘most brutal’ among the six held for the gang rape of a paramedic student, HT revisited Ravidas Colony to take a glimpse of the place where the youth lived before the horrific incident.

“When the news of the gang rape got out we were shocked to learn about his involvement. The residents here did not have much to do with the other four. But he (the youth) was very friendly and used to do odd jobs for us. The company of those monsters turned him into a monster too,” said Vihari Lal, the colony pradhan.

Many residents cringed at the mention of his name. They clearly remembered how the news channels had stressed over and over as to how he had brutalised the victim and thrown her out of the bus.

“I had brought him here. He was at the Anand Vihar bus terminal before. He never shied away from doing any kind of work while he was here. He had made friends in the colony and would always sleep in the bus parked on the opposite side of the colony,” said a resident of RK Puram sector-2.

Though some blamed the other arrested convicts for influencing the youth, Madhu Singh — Ram Singh’s brother — said he was the most evil of the lot.

Ram Singh was one of the convicts in the case who committed suicide inside Tihar Jail during trial.