Bhubaneswar: In a chilling reminder of the Gopalpur incident in June, a teenage girl was allegedly gangraped by two youths in front of her boyfriend at the popular tourist spot Baliharichandi beach under Brahmagiri police limits of Odisha’s Puri.
The incident took place on Saturday and came to light after a complaint was registered on Monday, leading to the arrest of the two accused – Kalia Behera and Siba Sahu of Chandiput village.
According to police sources, the 19-year-old survivor and her classmate visited a temple and later wandered into a nearby casuarina forest, about 500 metres from a beach, where they were accosted by four youths, who started recording videos of the couple and tried to extort money from them. This led to a heated exchange, following which the accused overpowered the survivor’s friend and took turns to sexually assault her.
Police got a whiff of the incident and traced the victim, who was initially reluctant to report the matter fearing social stigma. She was then counselled by female police officers and encouraged to lodge a complaint.
“On Monday, the girl lodged a complaint with Brahmagiri police and we immediately arrested the accused based on the details provided by her. Another suspect has been detained. We are currently investigating the potential involvement of more people in the incident,” said Puri SP Prateek Singh.
Police registered a case under section 70 of BNS and sent the girl for medical examination to the district headquarters hospital. The mobile phones seized from the accused would be sent to the State Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Bhubaneswar for examination and retrieve the videos, which they had later deleted, the sources added.
A similar incident was reported on June 15, when a Plus III student was allegedly gangraped by 10 persons in front of her male friend on Gopalpur beach in Ganjam district, sparking nationwide outrage.