Phulbani: Odisha police on Monday arrested BJD leader and former Phulbani MLA Debendra Kanhar from Icchapuram in Andhra Pradesh on charges of barging into the house of a woman and misbehaving with her.
Kanhar landed in a soup after a video showing the legislator sexually harassing the woman went viral last month. The video surfaced on social media a few days after the victim from Phulbani in Kandhamal district lodged a complaint against Kanhar at Sadar police station, alleging that the former legislator and his associate, Rinku Sahoo, barged into her house and misbehaved with her.
When she refused to have a relationship with him, the duo allegedly thrashed her mother.
In her complaint, she further alleged that Kanhar had relationship with multiple girls and kept blackmailing them.
On September 8, Kandhamal police formed two teams to trace Kanhar, who was on the run.
The legislator has been arrested under Sections 451 (house-trespass), 294 (obscene act), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 354 (molestation), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 370 (exploitation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
His close associates Rinku Sahoo and Baijayanti Kanhar are also co-accused in the case.
