Three Held For ‘Gang-Raping’ Woman In Kalahandi

Bhawanipatna: Nine days after the gang rape of a woman on the outskirts of Junagarh town in Odisha’s Kalahandi district, police on Saturday arrested three accused and forwarded them to the court.

The arrested, identified as Chittaranjan Guru, Mukund Guru and Susant Padhani were forwarded to the court on Sunday.

Briefing media persons at the district police headquarters here, Kalahandi SP Sandip Mukund said the victim, a native of Sibasagar Pada on the outskirts of Junagarh town had gone to Lord Sani Temple in the evening on March 31 to perform worship. While she was on the way to the temple, the three accused of Bhatraguda village overpowered her and took her to a nearby guava farm where they forced her to drink liquor. But as she resisted, the trio severely thrashed her and raped her in turns after she was intoxicated.

After committing the crime, they stripped her and video recorded with a threatening that they would kill her if she tells anyone about the incident.

The victim, who remained silent due to public shame, later divulged the matter before her family who filed a complaint with the Junagarh police.

“Apart from these three arrested youths, there are others who had video shooting of the naked girl and later made it viral. We are after them and would arrest them very soon,” the SP added.