Kendujhar: Police in Odisha’s Keonduhar district have arrested a 29-year-old Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawan on charges of sexually assaulting a 22-year-old college student at a hotel.
The accused, identified as Rashmi Ranjan Sethi of Mundukati village, is currently posted as a CISF jawan in Tamil Nadu.
According to sources, the incident took place on Thursday morning after the survivor, a Plus III student at a women’s college in Salapada, was dropped off by her father at Chhenapadi Chhak to board her college bus. According to the victim’s complaint, Sethi, who hails from a neighbouring village and was known to her, intercepted her, lured her off the bus under the pretext of some work, and took her to a hotel near Shalabani Chhak in Hatadihi block, where he allegedly committed the crime. Police reported that another youth accompanied and assisted Sethi during the incident and is presently absconding.
Following the ordeal, the student telephoned her family. Her father, accompanied by a fellow villager, arrived at the hotel and brought her home safely. She subsequently lodged a formal written complaint at the Soso police station with her family. Soso police registered a case under Sections 64(2)(m), 296, 115(2), and 351(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Sethi was subsequently from his residence on Saturday, and the survivor was taken for a mandatory medical examination as part of the ongoing probe.
Anandapur Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Kamal Kumar Panda visited the Soso police station to review the case details, confirming the main suspect’s arrest while assuring that efforts are underway to trace and apprehend the absconding second accomplice.
