Bhubaneswar: Days after rape-murder of a woman, Paradip in Odisha reported another horrific incident in which a 7-year-old tribal girl was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted repeatedly over three days by a local butcher inside his meat shop.
The accused, identified as Raja Khan (24), from Ram Nagar in Kendrapada district, was arrested on Sunday. He worked as a butcher and resided in the same slum as the victim and her family under Paradip Model police limits.
According to police sources, the minor lived with her father in a slum. Her father, who frequently consumed alcohol and wandered off, often left her unattended. The child often begged in the locality for food. Khan allegedly lured the girl with chocolates and took her to a meat preparation cabin within his shop on February 26. He reportedly gave her a cold drink laced with drugs, causing her to lose consciousness. He then confined her in the locked cabin and assaulted her multiple times over the next three days.
The girl escaped on Saturday and confided in a friend about the abuse. The friend informed local women, who confronted the accused. That evening, a group of women gheraoed the cabin where Khan had locked himself up. They forced open the door, dragged him out, tied his hands to a tree, and beat him before handing him over to police.
The victim’s father subsequently filed an FIR at Paradip Model police station and a case was registered under relevant sections for sexual assault on a minor.
Earlier, police had arrested two persons in connection with the death of a 23-year-old woman, who was raped twice in a day at separate places by her boyfriend and a stranger offering her lift before being thrown off a four-storey building in Jagatsinghpur district early on February 22.
