Bhubaneswar: A special team of the Odisha police have arrested a second suspect from Uttar Pradesh in connection with the alleged trafficking, confinement, and repeated sexual assault of a 17-year-old tribal girl from Dhenkanal district.
The accused, identified as 26-year-old Chandrapal Kushwaha, was apprehended on June 3 from Patha village under the Erach police station limits in the Jhansi district of Uttar Pradesh, in a coordinated multi-state tracking operation. Following his arrest, Kushwaha was brought to Odisha on a transit remand, produced in court, and remanded to judicial custody on Saturday.
“We have interrogated him regarding his involvement in the case. Investigation into the roles of other accused individuals is currently underway,” Kamakhyanagar police station IIC Jitendra Kumar Mallik was quoted as saying.
The breakthrough follows the May 30 arrest of Binay Patra (46), who is accused of orchestrating the initial trafficking ring.
According to the survivor’s complaint filed on May 23 at Kamakhyanagar police station, her ordeal began in 2024 when Patra approached her in Kankadahada area of Dhenkanal, where she was living after her mother’s second marriage, under the pretext of a job in Bhubaneswar. The girl had sought employment to support her parents, who work as daily-wage labourers, due to severe financial distress. Instead of employment, she and reportedly several other girls were trafficked to Jhansi and handed over to one Ashish Yadav.
The girl alleged that she was confined in Ashish’s home for about three months, where she was repeatedly sexually assaulted by Ashish and his father, Kalyan Yadav. She became pregnant as a result of the buase and was forced to undergo an abortion arranged by Ashish’s mother, Urmila Yadav. Following the abortion, Ashish allegedly sold her to Kushwah for Rs 50,000.
At Chandrapal’s residence, the nightmare intensified. The survivor claimed Chandrapal, his elder brother, and two uncles repeatedly raped her over the next two years while keeping her in strict confinement, preventing any contact with the outside world.
Her ordeal ended on May 19 when she eventually managed to escape her captors with the assistance of a local lawyer in Jhansi, who escorted her to the district headquarters. She safely returned to Odisha on May 22 and lodged a formal complaint with police the following day.
The severity of the case has drawn national attention. The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has taken suo motu cognisance of the matter based on media reports. The rights panel has issued urgent notices to the Directors General of Police (DGPs) of both Odisha and Uttar Pradesh, as well as the Dhenkanal District Magistrate. The NHRC has demanded a comprehensive report within two weeks outlining the progress of the criminal investigation, alongside the specific relief and rehabilitation measures being provided to the teenage survivor.
While Patra was apprehended from Visakhapatnam, two teams went to Jhansi for further investigation into the matter, leading to the arrest of Kushwaha.
