Teens Raped In Odisha’s Kandhamal; 2 Accused Escape From Spot

Kandhamal: A 26-year-old man was arrested on Sunday in connection with the alleged abduction and rape of two teenage girls in Odisha’s Kandhamal district last week.

According to sources, the accused, identified as Akash Digal alias Kalia, along with his friend picked up two 14-year-old girls on his bike from a market on January 10 and took them to a forest.

The minor girls were allegedly raped by Akash and his friend in two different rooms inside an abandoned house.

Later that night, the locals of the village chased a cab that the accused allegedly hired to drop back the victims. Although the main accused persons managed to escape from the spot, the driver, identified as Jyotish Ranjan Digal, was caught by the villagers and handed over to the police.

“Akash is a history-sheeter who has at least eight cases of heinous crime lodged against him in different police stations in Kandhamal,” TOI reported Tapan Nahak, inspector in-charge of Phiringia police station as saying.