Bhawanipatna: Police arrested a minor boy and eight others on Wednesday in connection with the gang rape of a college student inside a forest in Junagarh in Kalahandi district 12 days ago.
SP (Kalahandi) Batula Gangadhar said out of the nine accused, four were arrested for raping the 22-year-old victim, three were held for recording the heinous act and uploading the video on social media and two others for assisting them in the act.
The SP stated that police have not found the complicity of Narendra Sabar, who had given a lift to the victim on his bike, in the crime. Police were proceeding with the investigation on the basis of Narendra’s statement as the prime witness, he added.
Gangadhar said four of the accused had detained Narendra near a temple at Banamalipur and then dragged the victim to Jaring forest and gang-raped her. “The four accused are residents of Banamalipur. They were having a feast with some youths inside the forest before the crime,” he added.
The SP further said police were interrogating the accused to know the names of the others involved in the crime.
According to police, the victim was undergoing Auxiliary Nursing and Midwifery (ANM) training at an institute in Junagarh. She used to travel from her village to Junagarh every day.
On September 14, she had gone to Junagarh for treatment. But as she missed the bus to her village, she had requested for a lift from Narendra Sabar, a bus driver, who had come to Junagarh on his bike.
While the duo was on the way to Kokasara, they were waylaid by the four accused. Later, the accused threatened them and took the victim inside the forest at knife point and gang-raped her while three of their associates recorded the incident on their mobile phone and uploaded on social media.
The victim, who did not lodge a complaint on the same day for fear of shame, finally lodged the complaint in the Junagarh police station on September 22.
