3 Arrested For ‘Gangrape’ Of Woman During Burglary At Apartment In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police on Wednesday arrested three persons in connection with the alleged loot after gangrape of a woman at a flat in an apartment in Maitri Vihar area of Odisha capital late on Sunday.

Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack, S Dev Datta Singh told reporters that the case has been cracked successfully with the arrest of three persons, including two prime accused, for their involvement in the incident.

While two of the accused entered the house and committed the heinous crime, another person waited outside to help the duo, the Police Commissioner said.

The incident came to light after the 27-year-old woman lodged a complaint with city police on Tuesday, alleging that two masked robbers first looted valuables from her house and then took turns to rape her by holding her toddler at a knife point.

The miscreants, who had first stolen a mobile phone from the woman’s house a day before the incident, made the plan to commit the crime after finding that the balcony door of the flat remains open. As per their plan, the burglars held the woman at knife-point and gang-raped her, Singh said.

The two main accused have criminal antecedents and they were residing near the area. The main accused have been identified as Bikash Nayak and Jaga Singh. The other accused has been identified as Tukuna Nayak, an autorickshaw driver.

Mobile phones and a knife have been seized from their possession. Both the main accused have criminal antecedents against them and they have earlier gone to jail in connection with many cases. After returning from jail on bail, the duo again started their criminal activities.

Police said the woman went to sleep with her daughter after dinner but woke up around 2 am. She sat on the balcony for a while and then went to the bathroom. As she stepped out, she was startled to see the burglars, who first looted a gold earring and a mobile phone. The robbers then sexually assaulted her before fleeing with the valuables, she said in her complaint.

The burglars also threatened to kill her daughter if she revealed it to anyone and returned her SIM card before fleeing.

According to sources, the victim, working in a private hospital, had moved into the flat with her two-year old daughter ten days ago. The apartment complex is home to hundreds of families from Nilamadhaba slum rehabilitated by the state government.

Maitri Vihar Police had initially detained two burglars on the basis of the complaint lodged by the woman and questioned them before the breakthrough was achived.