Baripada: In another case of sexual assault, a 25-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped after being kidnapped by three individuals in a village under Karanjia police jurisdiction in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj on Tuesday evening.
This was the fifth such case reported from the state within a ten-day period and second in the district.
According to police, the incident took place when the woman was returning to her maternal uncle’s home after meeting a friend. Two persons on a motorcycle offered her a lift and then took her to a deserted place where another associate joined them and allegedly raped her. Following the assault, the three threatened her against disclosing the matter and left the place.
The woman, however, narrated the entire incident to her relatives and lodged a complaint with Karanjia police late that night, leading to the arrest of the main suspect, Bikash Patra (28) from Malarpada village. Another accused, Lokanath Mohanta (30), was nabbed last night.
Mayurbhanj SP Varun Guntupalli said raids are being conducted to apprehend the absconding accused.
Odisha has witnessed four other sexual assault incidents since mid-June. While a woman was gangraped during a beach outing with a make friend at Gopalpur on June 15, a 17-year-old Plus II student was gangraped and murdered in Keonjhar district and her found hanging from a tree on June 18. A day later, another case in which 31-year-old woman was allegedly raped by four men under Baripada Sadar police limits came to the fore. A 17-year-old nursing aspirant was alleged raped by a clinic owner in Berhampur on June 25.
